Losing a Wizard in Two Weeks
by TGIF2
Summary: A bet finally pushes Harry to act on his feelings for Ginny. Now out of Hogwarts and a successful columnist, Ginny Weasley may have other ideas in mind. A funny/romantic story loosely based on "How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days." -- CHAPTER 2 WAS CHANGED!
1. Chapte 1: The Assignment

"I can't believe I am doing this," Ginny muttered, trying to tug down the hem of her dress as Luna navigated them through the relatively crowded restaurant.

It was the first time Ginny ever came to The Merlin's Club and it was far more remarkable than she imagined. The sleek architecture and expensive decorations would have been eye catching if it weren't for the patrons, who if possible were dressed even more impressive than the room itself.

She looked down and, for the third time since entering, readjusted her outfit. She bought it months ago when she was given a bonus at work and it was by far the most expensive thing she owned. Coming to The Merlin's Club gave her a perfect excuse to finally wear it, but she couldn't shake the gut feeling that she didn't belong here.

"Tell me again why we're here? Three Broomsticks would have been perfectly suitable, you know." Ginny hissed in Luna's ear as she leaned against the bar, scanning the rest of the room's occupants. "Anyway, how did you get us in here? I've heard its reputation for being impossibly exclusive."

"Remember Mr. Heckly, the nice apothecary who helped me with that potion I needed? It worked so well that started running his ads for free in the paper. As a thank you he said he would put my name down on his guest list, so I can come here whenever I want. Besides Ginny," Luna continued watching the crowd benignly, "it is the perfect place for your assignment. The people here are wonderful. You're bound to find someone."

"Well if I have to do this, I at least am going to be happy while I am at it," Ginny smiled, turning towards the bar, leaning over in attempt to find the bartender. "What shall we have, firewhiskey or something more exotic?"

Luna looked at Ginny seriously before answering. "I, as much as anyone, enjoy escaping the stresses of daily life through alcohol, but now isn't the time. I need you to be in top form. Nothing more than Butterbeer tonight."

"You got it boss," she conceded. Luna had been adamant about this latest article she wanted Ginny to write, which was something that caught her off guard. Luna, being the free spirit she is, was always extremely lenient with what she would let Ginny write ever since she started her work at The Quibbler a year ago. Given this freedom, she never questioned the articles Luna asked her to do, as off beat as they might be she felt she owed it to her friend for letting her express all her opinions without censorship.

After graduating Hogwarts, she had hopes of a career working at The Daily Prophet, but soon found out she would never be able to write any of the pieces she wanted to. The paper was in the Ministry's back pocket and all but writing the articles for them. This had led Ginny to seek help from her old classmate, who was in charge of _The Quibbler _ever since her father's death during the war. She planned on only staying there for a short period until she could secure a job at another paper or magazine, possibly even_Witch Weekly_, but found she enjoyed working with her friend immensely

So when Luna approached her with her latest idea for a story, Ginny found herself agreeing. Her friend was convinced that because of the positions of Venus's moons, next month women would be entering doomed relationships with wizards who were completely wrong for them. She felt she had a duty to warn her readers and her solution was simple. While she doubted anyone would respond to this warning, she did want to prepare them for getting out of their supposed disastrous relationship, which is where Ginny came in. She was to write an article about the different and most effective ways to end a relationship with a man.

Luna was determined that Ginny be the one who did this. She said that it was too important to trust with any other journalist working for her. But before writing the article she had to experiment, for Luna wouldn't let her use past experience. She would need to find a man and drive him away. According to Luna those relationships were only with boys and not men. Ginny wanted to deny this, but the truth was the last time she was in a serious with anyone was when she was nineteen which was nearly four years ago. Not having a valid argument she relented and agreed.

A wicked smile crossed her face as she sipped her Butterbeer. She could have a lot of fun with this. She was sure Fred and George would happily provide her with any supplies for the upcoming two weeks. Feeling a bit more comfortable with the mission at hand, she returned to scanning the crowd and entertaining Luna with a light conversation. Boy did she feel sorry for the poor sod that she chose. He would be running for the hills in a matter of days.

There was a roar of laughter just as another round of drinks was served. Harry thankfully accepted his Butterbeer while his friends chose more creative drinks to consume. He learned early after graduating Hogwarts to watch what he drank. If he wasn't careful on his nights out, he would find his picture on all the covers of the newspapers, especially _The Daily Prophet_, which had long lost his respect.

"Honestly!" Seamus boasted, "You should have seen her. I had her eating out of the palm of my hand. Knees weak, short of breath! Never even saw it coming."

"Oh, sure," Neville laughed, red in the face from both alcohol and laughing. "That's why she was seen calling you a blithering idiot and storming out of the pub!"

The others broke into laughter again and Seamus mumbled, "Thanks Nev."

Once a month Harry and his old dorm mates would get together and catch up, and they would always end up having a grand time, often ending in several of them intoxicated. Tonight it was only Harry, Neville, Seamus, and Dean. Ron unfortunately was on a mission.

"I nearly had her," Seamus whined. "Five more minutes and it would have been a done deal, but Neville here had to come by and ruin it all!"

"All I did was say 'Hello Seamus'! How was I supposed to know you told her you were Peter Peachum, world-renowned Healer?"

Harry, who was taking a sip of his drink at the time nearly choked. "You did what?!"

"Shut it, Potter," he snapped, but Harry could see amusement in his friend's face. "What do you use to get a girl – certainly not your witty personality.

"Well _Finnegan ,_" Harry shot back, "I don't have to lie about my occupation. And I know I have better luck than you do."

"Sure," Seamus replied with an all too casual shrug, "but a witch shagging you because you're the 'The-Boy-Who-Lived' doesn't count. I'm sure the fact that you're an ex-Quidditch star doesn't hurt either. They just want to brag to their friends. No mate, I'm talking about the 'L' word."

Harry sat up straighter, "If I wanted to I could. I just haven't…found the right girl. I bet I could if I wanted to."

"You bet, huh?"

Harry wasn't sure he liked the gleam in his friend's eye. He glanced at Neville and Dean but they just watched with barely concealed amusement.

"Er, well that is – the thing is…"

"What's the matter Harry," Dean asked with a smile, "Afraid you can't do it or afraid what will happen if you can?"

"I am not afraid!" Harry huffed.

Seamus was now almost giddy. Leaning closer to him he said, "If you can get a witch to fall in love with you within two weeks, no spells, charms, or potions I will rip up all those photographs I have of you at Ron's stag party. You won't have to worry about 'em ending up in any dodgy newspaper." Seamus offered, holding out his hand.

Impulsively Harry grasped his friends hand and nodded, "Yeah I bet."

As soon as he said the words a jolt went through their clasped hands. Harry gasped and wretched his hand away, shaking the pain out of it. He gaped at Seamus. "Bloody hell! What was that?"

Seamus too, as well as Dean and Neville, was looking bewildered, but their gaze was directed towards Harry not the outstretched hand. "We bet; the magic was sealing the deal."

He cursed. He should have known. Nothing in his life was ever as simple as jesting. Harry loved magic and the wizarding world, but sometimes it seemed to exist to make a fool out of him.

"Okay," Dean said rubbing his hands together conspiratorially, "now to choose the lucky witch!"

"Oh this could be very interesting." Neville began scanning the room, bouncing slightly in his seat.

For the first time that night, Harry took notice of the other patrons. "Please," Harry begged. "Please be nice. No hags or anything. If I have to do this then help me out a bit."

Harry was eyeing a suspicious looking woman at the end of the bar. Who would let her into a place like The Merlin's Club? However, he turned back to his friends when they did not answer him.

Dean, Neville, and Seamus had their heads close together, whispering and grinning like mad.

"You think we should do it?" "It's perfect." "I don't know if Harry could handle her." "It will be too easy." "Nah, she'll make him work for it."

"Handle WHO?!" Harry huffed.

The others seemed to realize he was listening. Together, all three turned to him smiling and Seamus spoke in his best business voice, "Harry m'boy we have found you a witch."

"Over at the bar with the…damn she just turned away. Okay, middle of the bar, plum dress, the one with the really low back."

Harry turned around; scanning the bar for the woman he would be courting for the next two weeks. He didn't find her on the first sweep, but as he went over the crowd a second time, he saw her. He felt his mouth go a bit dry.

To say she was stunning was an understatement. She had long, red hair that fell in soft curls ending between the shoulder blades of her back. Harry was finding it difficult to swallow. Her dress left most of her back exposed. Her skin was milky white and looked as if it would feel like silk to the touch. His eyes traveled downward and appreciated the way her hips flared out seductively.

Grinning like a fool Harry groped behind him blindly searching for Seamus' hand. Once located, he grasped it, still not daring to look away from the vision in front of him. Shaking his friend's hand he said, "Thank you, thank you, thank you! You got yourself a deal!"

The same jolt coursed through his hand again, but he ignored it, already getting up to make his way over to his target. He took once step away from his table when the woman turned to face her friend and for the first time Harry saw her face. The sight caused him to stop mid stride, but it wasn't from wonderment and awe of her beauty, which in any other circumstance he probably would have. It felt as though someone had punched him in the solar plexus.

Quickly, as to not be seen staring from across the room, Harry hurried back to his seat where he was met by his friends who were barely containing their laughter. He ignored them and attempted to regain his breathing.

"What's the matter Harry?" Dean asked with a less than innocent smile.

Harry, who now had his hands in his hair, leaning on the table, was barely able to keep up with the thoughts whirling in his mind. "Did you know…how is…she can't…but she is…not possible," he rambled. His voice was several octaves higher than normal and he wasn't making sense.

He looked over his shoulder at the woman leaning causally against the bar; talking merrily to a man Harry didn't know. His face darkened at the sight. There was no denying it. That was Ginny Weasley, sister of Ron, daughter of Arthur and Molly Weasley. He watched as she casually flipped her long mane of hair to one side, exposing her neck. He could see her laughing, and although from where he sat he couldn't hear it, it did not matter. He had memorized that laugh years ago; the memory of it rang in his head, taunting him.

Harry glanced quickly at his dinner mates before returning his gaze back to Ginny. They watched with amusement at Harry's shock, but that's all he saw in there eyes. They didn't know. They _couldn't _know. He pulled at the neck of his shirt. Why was it so warm in here?

He turned back to his dinner mates, eyes wide with what he hoped look like shock and fear.

"When…when…when did that happen?" he demanded looking around at his friends. "It can't have been even…it's only been a month since I've seen her. Surely she…there is no way that is little Ginny." His eyes were darting between the other three wizards frantically searching for answers.

Neville laughed out right. "Looks like Harry has finally seen what the rest of us knew since fourth year!"

Harry had to hold in a sigh of relief. "What are you talking about?" He was still acting confused, but at least his voice was normal again.

Neville gave him a pitying smile and Harry frowned. Having Neville pity you was never a good thing. "Ever since she was thirteen she was gorgeous! I took her to the Yule Ball. Made a fool of myself, I did. Must've stepped on her toes at least a dozen times. She never said anything but after that I was too embarrassed to ask her out again.

Harry glanced at Dean. He raised his hands in defeat, "She dated and dumped me, remember?"

Lastly he glanced at Seamus but he was only giving Harry a cocky smile. "I was too much man for her…OW!" He rubbed his arm where Dean had punched him. "Fine, the lass never even gave me the time of day. Good luck with that one Harry!"

"And why is it that I never heard you talking about her before tonight?" Harry asked through narrow eyes. He tried to control his anger at the appraising look Seamus was giving Ginny, who was now facing away from them with her bare back exposed once again. Harry had to resist the urge to conjure a blanket to cover her with, which seemed like a better option than jabbing Seamus' eyes out with his salad fork so he couldn't look at her like that again.

Dean rolled his eyes and let out an exasperated sigh. "Do you really think we were dumb enough to talk about Ginny in front of her brothers – especially Ron? The two of you were always together."

He nodded in acknowledgment and began to fiddle with his napkin. If he concentrated enough he could still feel the remnants of the spell throughout his arm. Out of all the witches in the building why did they have to pick her? Didn't they know that if he thought he could make Ginny Weasley love him, he would have done it years ago?

Harry sighed and turned back to the bar. Ginny was still there but the wizard she was talking to was nowhere to be seen. She really was striking. He couldn't fathom how she became more beautiful each time he saw her. He visited the Burrow at least three times a month since graduating Hogwarts. Granted he didn't see as much of her as he used to after she moved out of her childhood home, but when he did see her she was usually in her Weasley jumper and grass-stained jeans, and as striking as ever.

"You know," Harry said finally after his head cleared, "Ron would kill me for even thinking about this." He was still watching Ginny. Someone must have said something she found amusing because she started to laugh, throwing her head back with mirth.

Maybe this was finally the right time. Maybe this was the push he needed to act on what he felt for the youngest Weasley. Maybe this won't be so bad after all.

A small smile played on his lips, "So let's not tell him, alright?"


	2. Chapter 2: The Date

Tracing the rim of her glass she wondered how much longer she would be here

Tracing the rim of her glass she wondered how much longer she would be here. She was getting tired of flirting with the wizards just for Luna to shake her head 'no'.

"May I buy you a drink, miss?" Ginny tried not to smile, for she could hear a trace of nervousness in his soft voice. If he was nervous now, he wouldn't last two days with what she had planned. Unfortunately, she wasn't even able to turn around before she heard Luna speak.

"I'm sorry, but no."

"Excuse me?" Oh, he was irritated now!

"It just wouldn't be proper. We are here for work, and it wouldn't do well for her to be busy talking to you. I hope you have a good night."

Ginny laid her arms on the bar, willing herself to keep her patience. She and Luna had been looking for the right man, or "victim" as Ginny liked to refer to him, for the past hour. She had met several attractive wizards who made it clear they were interested in her, or at least interested in the way she looked in this god awful dress. After readjusting it a few dozen times and ignoring more than a handful of leers, she had come to detest it. Yet the few wizards who had approached her were dismissed by Luna. When she tried to question Luna about her choices, her only response was that they weren't the right one.

Luna sent each one away with an apology and a smile. Someone from across the bar even had the bartender send over a drink, but before she could accept, Luna shook her head, pushing the glass away. When they left, dejected, Ginny couldn't help but smile and think how lucky they were that Luna hadn't approved. They were saved two weeks of torture. That is, if they lasted that long.

"What is a lovely creature like you doing here without a date?" came a smooth voice behind her. Still, she rolled her eyes at his comment. She was getting bored of the usual flirting she had been doing this evening when there was nothing to show for it. She decided to have some fun this time and be a bit bolder.

Not turning around, she spoke. "No one got past the initial screening process." With a smirk she took a half step backwards and pushed her lower half against the man. "Care to submit an application?"

Large, firm hands rested on her waist and he chuckled. Ginny wasn't sure if he was going to try and pull her closer or push her away, but he did neither, and instead just rested his hands there. "I'm intrigued. What are the qualifications?"

Ginny snuck a glance at Luna out of the corner of her eye and saw that she was watching with mild interest. Was this the man she wanted her to see?

She stood up straight, her back coming into contact with his torso and shoulders brushing his chest, the fabric of his sweater soft against the exposed skin of her back. He must have been a good six inches tall than her, but he was thin, lanky almost. Despite that, it seemed as if he kept himself in shape.

Unable to quash her curiosity any longer as to what her latest suitor looked like, she turned around. They were close to begin with and with his hands still on her waist turning around brought them into a rather intimate embrace, her arms trapped between them.

She found herself staring at a black knit sweater that appeared to be home-made and was soft under her hands. She watched as his Adam's apple bobbed. Pulling away slightly she looked up to see the stranger's face. She immediately saw a warm smile, bright green eyes and a … lightning bolt scar?

"Harry!" she breathed, shocked beyond belief. Not wanting him to see her blush, which she was positive was about to happen any moment, she threw her arms around him and pulled him into a hug. Her world seemed to stop. Had she just been flirting with Harry? What must he think of her? She looked around wildly, not fully comprehending what was happening. Oh, this was embarrassing. Would he tell her mother about this?

She heard a large cheer from across the room. The outside world seemed oblivious to her inner turmoil, and she realized she had to say something. Satisfied that her face was not rivaling her hair color, she let go and stepped away. Hoping her smile looked natural, she said, "I haven't seen you in ages! How are you?"

"I've been doing well. You look great by the way," he smiled and reached out, rubbing his hand along her upper arm.

Slightly unnerved by his attention, she turned to Luna. "Harry, you remember Luna Lovegood from Hogwarts."

"Of course," he said, removing his hand from her arm and extending it toward the other woman. "What are you two ladies doing here tonight?"

Ginny smiled and waited for Luna to not so subtly dismiss Harry, as this was usually the point in conversation when she had done so with the others.

Instead, Luna smiled widely at Harry and said, "I am actually here on business. **I'm** meeting with a potential advertiser and asked Ginny to keep me company. Unfortunately I think she is extremely bored."

"Is that so?" he asked, shooting Ginny a hopeful look.

Ginny stared uncomprehendingly at her friend for another moment before turning to Harry. "It seems I am more of a writer than a business woman. Give me a story and let others worry about all the rest!" she laughed, hoping she sounded convincing. But her mind was reeling. i_Harry? Harry! She wants me to date Harry?/i_

"Well then, Luna, would you mind if I stole Ginny for the evening? I would love to catch up with her. Like she said, it's been ages."

"Not at all, I suspect the person I am meeting to be here shortly. You two have fun."

Ginny's eyes snapped from Harry to Luna. She couldn't be serious. Luna was known for being a bit unconventional, but this was too much, even for her. She narrowed her eyes at her friend and asked, "Are you sure? You were quite adamant about me coming with you tonight."

"All things happen for a reason," Luna replied wistfully. "It seems the fates wanted me to bring you here so you could meet up with Harry."

"Well, if you're sure…"

"Great!" Harry interrupted. "It was nice seeing you again, Luna."

With his arm on the small of her back, Harry steered her away from her friend, through the crowds, and towards the exit. "You don't mind if we go somewhere else, do you? I'm starving and this place is a bit stuffy for me."

Nodding mutely, Ginny let him guide her. She still wasn't sure what was happening or what she had gotten herself into.

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"To be honest," Ginny said, cutting a piece of her roasted chicken, "I was quite relieved when you stopped playing."

She paused briefly to take a bit of her food and continued to talk about Harry's short-lived professional Quidditch career. After two seasons of playing with the Tornados, he gave up the position of Seeker for a job within the Department of Magical Games and Sports. He told her family that much as he enjoyed playing, he was tired of his life being on display and in the spotlight. The press would always have an interest in what he was doing, but having a career that involved fame and interviews was too much for him.

The two ended up at The Leaky Cauldron for a late dinner and had begun talking about what they had been doing since leaving Hogwarts. Harry was nervous when leaving the other restaurant. He wasn't yet used the idea that he was finally going to act on his feelings for Ginny. And it was even more surreal now that she sat there across from him looking more enticing than ever.

Well, he was painfully aware of that now.

It had taken him nearly twenty minutes to find the courage to walk over to Ginny. In that time, he watched as four different men approached her. It was like a horrible accident where he wanted to look away but just couldn't. He watched as she laughed, and flirted, and brushed hands with each of them. And then, inexplicably, after all of that, they left.

It didn't help when he and Ginny were saying goodbye to Luna that his eyes caught his friends still at their table. When they saw him put his arm on her back, they sent him thumbs up, winks, and started pumping their fists; not to mention the cheers they let out when Ginny hugged him.

Despite his friends' congratulations, he wasn't feeling too confident. After he went up to Ginny, things started to go amazingly well. That was, until she turned around and saw who it was she was flirting with. Even when they had left the place, she was very quiet. But now, to his relief, they sat here eating and talking like old friends. Any other day he would have been happy to reminisce with Ginny over dinner, but tonight he did not want to be seen as merely a friend, or worse…a brother.

"Don't get me wrong," she continued, gesturing animatedly with her fork, "I love Quidditch – always have – but after all the injuries we had during school, it was enough for me. I mean, I've only been to one professional game – you remember that, The World Cup right before my third year? Ireland versus Bulgaria? Then again, you never did give me those free tickets to one of your games like you promised. The professionals were even rougher than Slytherins. If you played for much longer you would have ended up like Ludo Bagman, several broken arms and way too many Bludgers to the head!"

Ginny seemed blissfully unaware of Harry's mental state. He surreptitiously wiped his sweaty palms on his trousers, cursing himself for being so nervous. He had to try to do something to let her know that he was interested in her as more than a friend, but it wasn't that easy. If it had been, then he might have done something years ago like he had always wanted to. He tried brushing his leg up against hers earlier but she was just so fidgety that when they touched, she apologized and kept talking. He needed to be more direct. Trying again, he seized his opportunity when she rested her glass down on the table.

Leaning forward, placed his hand on top of hers, halting her movements and her speech. "I'm such a prat, Ginny," he spoke softly and looked directly into her eyes, ignoring the bile rising in his throat. "I really wish you could have gone to one of my games. I don't know why I never gave you those tickets. I meant to."

And he did. At least he did at the time. He had just finished his rookie season for the Tornados and was over at The Burrow for his birthday. Harry remembered that night well. Ginny had just graduated Hogwarts earlier that summer and he hadn't seen her since December. They fell into an easy conversation with Ron and Hermione for most of the night before she declared that it was past her bedtime. Desperate to keep her there for at least a minute longer, he had shouted at her retreating form, saying he had to tell her about her birthday present. He had promised her tickets to one of next season's games, but he'd have to Owl them to her since he was leaving in a few days to go to training camp.

It wasn't until he was lying in bed that night that he stopped to consider that promise. If he knew that Ginny was in the stands, he was almost guaranteed to lose. The notion of her there watching the game - watching i_him/i _– was too much for him to handle. He never Owled her any tickets. She never asked why he didn't send them.

But now, sitting across the table from him she appeared startled by his comment. He waited with bated breath for her response, his gaze unwavering on her warm brown eyes. After a moment, she began to remove her hand from underneath his. He felt his heart drop; this wasn't supposed to happen. Bugger, this was why he never did anything before. Seamus was such a pillock! He was about to bring his hand back to his side of the table when a small smile crossed her face. Her delicate hand covered his larger one and gave it an affectionate squeeze.

"That's alright, Harry. It's just…I remember how much you enjoyed playing at Hogwarts. It'd have been nice to see you on a professional pitch."

They stared at each other in silence for a few moments before Ginny cleared her throat and looked away. She removed her hand from his and took another sip of her drink.

"So you go to The Merlin's Club often?" she asked when she finally looked at him again.

He held back a sigh. This might be harder than he expected. Seamus must have been right; his luck with women was probably due to his name and little else. But she was sitting here having dinner with him. It could be worse, right? At least she didn't run away in fright.

Harry forced a smile. "Yeah, well it's not my favorite place. I only go there because the people think so highly of themselves that they wouldn't dare act like fans. You won't find anyone in there asking for autographs from 'The-Boy-Who-Lived'."

Either the fates had a twisted sense of humor or he had to learn not to speak so loud. As he finished talking, Harry heard the all too familiar sound of giggling. He quickly scanned the room and found the source.

A group of six witches had spotted him and were busy whispering breathlessly and sneaking glances over at his table. What was worse was that their excitement caught the attention of other patrons.

Biting back a curse, Harry excused himself from a very confused Ginny and made his way to the bar. After he got the bartender's attention, he shoved more than enough money in his hand, thanked him and bid him goodbye.

"Harry, what's going on?" Ginny looked at him, her eyes still clouded with confusion and a bit of worry.

"We've been spotted," he explained, nodding his head towards the women.

Ginny leaned sideways to glance around Harry. Smiling she looked back up at him, her eyes dancing. "What a poor life you lead. You can't even get a decent meal without being mauled by admirers."

"Ginny!" Harry whined, trying to hide a smile. "You've never seen them in action. They're terrifying." Chancing a glance backwards, he saw that they were searching for quills. "Have you ever been to my flat?" he asked hurriedly.

"No."

"Damn!" He gave Ginny a short, calculating look before asking, "Do you trust me?"

"What? Why?"

"Just answer. Do you trust me?"

She looked flustered at his demand. "Oh, um, yes," she stuttered, then looking at him, she repeated more firmly, "Yes, Harry, of course I trust you."

"Good." He pulled her off her seat and towards him. He wrapped his arms around her and brought his lips down to her ear. "Because I need you to trust me when I do this."

Before she could ask what he meant, he closed his eyes and Apparated them back to his flat.

Before Ginny knew what was happening, The Leaky Cauldron and the ground had disappeared. The familiar sensations of Apparating washed over her and when she opened her eyes, she found herself looking at a pair of startling green ones.

Mentally shaking herself, she stepped away from Harry and looked around what she assumed was his flat. She could tell a bachelor definitely lived here, sparsely decorated with mismatched furniture; something she assumed was a result from lack of effort and caring--not lack of funds. There was a bit of clutter, several old editions of newspapers and empty Butterbeer bottles. But despite that, it was still somehow warm and inviting. He had a good amount of photos scattered around the room. Hedwig sat in her perch in the far corner of the room. Seeing the older owl was strangely comforting.

"Sorry about all that," Harry interrupted her scrutiny. He was standing in the middle of the room, scratching the back of his head. "Those witches are crazy. The whole lot of them."

She looked at him, cocking her head to one side; he really did seem afraid of those girls. Deciding not to tease him she just commented, "It's not a problem. Just make sure to give a girl warning before Apparating her!"

At least he had the decency to look sheepish. "Again, I'm sorry." But then he smiled tentatively and walked closer to her. When he reached her he asked, "Is all of you here? We don't want bits of Ginny all over the country."

He put both hands on her shoulders, sliding them down to her hands. "Let's see, two shoulders, two elbows…all ten fingers." He let go of her hands and moved them up to the sides of her face. Gently, he pushed aside her hair.

Ginny watched, transfixed and immobile. What was he doing? She struggled to gain control of her breathing, which was becoming increasingly shallower and had to drop her bottom lip a bit to allow more air to her lungs. She almost gasped and her eyelids threatened to close, feeling heavy, when he ran the pads of his thumbs over the rims of her ears all the while staring into her eyes mumbling something about two ears. Instead she just sighed and her eyes fluttered for a brief moment.

The sensations were overwhelming, making her hypersensitive to everything that was Harry. The feel of his hands on the sides of her face, the smell of his soap, the sight of his endearingly messy hair, the sound of her heart beating in her ears. She licked her lips, parting them slightly.

Harry's eyes widened and followed the tip of her tongue. She wasn't certain but she could have sworn she felt him moving closer.

"Where's your loo?" she squeaked. She knew she had chickened out, but she needed time to think – to breathe.

Harry, who was still staring at her lips, looked up. He looked startled and jumped away from her as if she had burned him, but quickly smiled, although it seemed a bit uneasy. He awkwardly scratched the back of his neck and then pointed behind her. "Around that corner, first door on the left."

"Thanks." She hurried out of the room.

Closing the door, she leaned up against it, taking a deep breath. She stayed there for a full minute, shutting her eyes while her head, back, and palms pressed against the door as she waited for her breathing to return to normal.

Pacing the length of the bathroom, Ginny forced herself to think things through. She hadn't been able to think clearly ever since saying goodbye to Luna. Fortunately, by the time they arrived at The Leaky Cauldron she found her voice. So she started talking about anything and everything that came into her head.

Could she really do this? Date Harry? It wouldn't technically be dating would it? It was more of an experiment really. And was he interested in her now? If he had shown interest in her when she was twelve, she would have fainted. Even if it happened five years ago, she might have jumped on him and snogged him senseless. What had gotten into him?

She had to admit to herself that if she wasn't doing this article, she wouldn't be completely opposed to dating him. After all, she didn't have a crush on him during school for nothing. She might have even been in the right mind to flirt back with him instead of running away and hiding in the bathroom. But no, she had to be doing this damn article.

And him! What nerve! He decided to make a move now, after more than ten years of knowing each other?

Oh no. They had known each other for ten years.

Ginny half sat, half collapsed on the edge of the tub, a strangled moan escaping her lips. A sinking feeling settled in the pit of her stomach. This completely ruined her strategy. Everything she had planned depended on the guy not knowing her all that well. Especially not someone who was her brother's and sister-in-law's best friend, not someone who spent his teenage summers at her house, and definitely not someone who'd seen her first thing in the morning, still in her pajamas with a terrible case of bed head.

No, she needed a guy – a subject – who was unfamiliar with her. Someone not used to how she acted so they wouldn't notice her behaving out of the ordinary. She needed someone who could be easily intimidated by her six older brothers.

She couldn't believe she had gotten herself into this situation. Here she was sitting in Harry's bathroom after he had blatantly made a pass at her. Now she was expected to start dating him – the same man who was the object of her childhood fantasies. On top of that, once she started dating him, she had to convince him she was a lunatic and make him break up with her, thus practically guaranteeing to make all future family functions incredibly awkward.

Sighing, she pushed herself off her perch on the bathtub. She was starting to feel tired, which was not surprising since she had gone from nervous, to angry, to horrified, to frustrated in a matter of minutes. Who wouldn't feel emotionally drained? Still, she realized she had been in here for far longer than normal. Quickly, she checked in the mirror to see if the curling charm on her hair had worn off. Satisfied with her appearance, she turned to leave, pausing briefly at the door. For now she would just worry about starting a relationship and figure out the rest later.

Walking back to Harry, she couldn't help but smile. In the time she was gone, he had attempted to clean up. The papers were stacked neatly, the bottles were nowhere to be seen, and he even had the WWN playing softly in the background.

He was standing near a bookshelf where a cluster of picture frames resided, and seemed to be examining one closely. She tried to get a peek at it, but he looked up when he heard her heels clicking on the hardwood floor. He shifted uncomfortably and quickly crossed to where she was standing, effectively blocking the pictures from her view.

Shaking her hair behind her shoulders and squaring them, Ginny tried to exude confidence she didn't have. She took hold of his hand and led him around the couch and sat, crossing her legs in a way she knew would make the hem of her dress rise. She wasn't worried about appearing too inappropriate. The length of the dress was modest; ending just at the knees; raising it a bit couldn't hurt.

"I was beginning to think you went in there just to Apparate out on me," he joked but she could see the uncertainty in his eyes.

"Oh, well," she replied airily, "I was busy going through all your private belongings. I had to make sure there weren't any deep dark secrets I should know about. You know, bad habits, ointments for nasty ailments – that sort of thing. "

He raised his eyebrows at her. "Did you find anything interesting? Do I pass?"

"I don't know," she teased, tilting her heat to one side, "I'm still waiting on that résumé."

"I guess I'll just have to get my people to send your people all the parchment work. In the meantime," he said, turning away from her. When he faced Ginny again he was holding two glasses. "How about some wine?"

"That would be lovely, thank you."

After taking a sip, she placed the glass down on the table nearest her and looked at Harry. "Do you mind?" she asked, gesturing to her feet. "My shoes are killing me."

"Not at all," he answered politely, settling into the couch a bit more. "Make yourself comfortable."

Angling herself to the perfect position, Ginny leaned forward. Grabbing the heel of one of her shoes, she knew full well that the scoop neck of her dress would fall forward, providing Harry with an excellent view. She had to duck her head even more to hide her smile when she heard him suck in his breath in surprise. Typical male.

Shoes off, she sat up and made a show of tucking her feet underneath to get comfortable but was really moving closer to him. She realized that while she was attending to her shoes, Harry had stretched both arms along the back of the couch, conveniently positioning his arm right behind her.

"Much better," she sighed, trying to catch his eye. Unfortunately, he was still fixed on her neckline.

"Harry…"

"Mmm?"

"My eyes are up here." She grinned, trying not to roll her eyes at his behavior.

His head jerked up, but instead of looking her in the eye he studied the contents of his glass.

Taking another sip of her wine, she commented, "You have a lovely place. Did you hire a decorator?"

Surprised by her comment, he looked around himself. "Thanks! Actually I didn't…." He frowned when he saw her biting her lip to keep from laughing. "Shut it, you. I happen to like it."

Able to let her laugh out now and glad the uncomfortable moment had passed, she bounced up on the couch, testing it out. "It's comfy enough, even if it doesn't match."

"What do you expect from a guy living on his own?" he huffed with a fake pout.

"Really, Harry! Where did you get this stuff? Somebody leave it on the side of the road?" she laughed more, resting her forehead on his shoulder.

When she looked up she realized how close they were. They were merely inches apart, angled towards each other with Harry's arm resting on the back of the couch. Being so close, she was able to see all the different flecks of green in his darker-than-usual eyes. She glanced down at his lips, seeing they were still in an adorable fake pout.

Breaking her gaze, she reached over to pick up her glass. "So tell me how you actually decorated this place. Please tell me Ron didn't help, though I wouldn't be surprised."

This time around, she didn't find the conversation as strained. It was comfortable sitting here with Harry – whose arm was subtly inching its way away from the cushions and towards her shoulders.

A glass of wine later for each of them, their conversation came to a bit of a lull. Sneaking a sideways glance at Harry, she found him looking at her. Turning her head fully towards him, she saw that once again Harry's eyes were lingering on her lips.

She wasn't sure who moved, but somehow their lips were gently pressing together and her eyes fluttered closed. She pulled back slightly to gauge his reaction. He looked shocked — as if he was also trying to figure out what had happened. Before she could start to worry, a small smile appeared on his lips. She was barely able to return it before he swiftly closed the gap, this time pressing their lips together more firmly.

Either he was an abnormally good kisser or she hadn't had a decent snog in a long time. She wasn't sure what it was about the kiss, but there was something that was i_right/i._Heat traveled down from their connected lips and she hummed softly as he gently pulled on her bottom lip with his teeth. Feeling the need for more contact, she slid her hand up his front, resting it on his cheek, cupping it. He removed his arm from the back of the couch and placed it on the back of her neck, tangling his hand in her curly locks while the other snaked around her back, pulling her closer to him.

Soon the kiss became more intense and she found herself being pushed back on the couch as he lay partly on top of her. She ran her hands through his hair, adding to the messiness of it. Both pleased and surprised by its softness, she continued to massage his scalp. She tugged on a bit of it and smiled into his mouth when he gasped. Taking advantage of his open mouth, she ran her tongue in between his parted lips. His response was eager. Eventually they broke apart, breathing heavily against one another.

"Ginny…" he breathed, his eyes focused on her lips. They were swollen and red from their kisses and parted to accommodate her panted breaths.

"Yes?"

Instead of answering, he began kissing her again with renewed enthusiasm. She ran her hands along his back, tracing patterns with fingers, enjoying the way he shivered under her ministrations.

He pulled his lips away from hers and she felt like crying out in protest. Trailing soft butterfly kisses along her jaw line he found a sensitive spot behind her right ear, causing her to gasp in response.

Encouraged by her reaction he focused his attention on that area. Her head fell to the side exposing more of her neck to him, her eyes shutting as the sensations washed over her. She could get used to this.

At that thought, her eyes flew open, surprised that she had allowed herself to lose control like this.

"Harry," she whispered. She raised her shaking hand to stroke his hair.

"Hmm?" he murmured against her neck, the sound vibrating against her pulse point, causing her to forget what she wanted to say. iNo/i. She couldn't do this. She was wrong. She wasn't this strong. This wasn't some wizard she met at a pub. This was Harry. iHarry/i. The boy who had saved her when she was eleven and spent summers at her house. The friend who cared more about the ones he loved than himself. The wizard who gave everything he had and expected nothing in return. This was the man who she…

No, she definitely couldn't do this.

Suddenly, everything was too much. Harry's body lying on top of her was a crushing her. It was hard to breathe and it wasn't because his kissing talents.

Her eyes looked around wildly. She had to get out of there. First thing in the morning she'd track down Luna and tell her this was one big mistake. She bit back a gasp of shock when she felt his hand caressing her calf. For now, she'd find a way to get out of here and fix this mess.

Taking control of the situation, she cupped his face and gently dragged his head away from hers.

"That was, um, nice," she said, biting her lip.

"Yeah." He smiled back at her, his voice breathless and his eyes a bit glazed. His hair was even out of control than normal and glasses lay crooked on his face. What was she thinking? Her stomach dropped as she watched as his smile faded into a serious expression and his eyes drifted back down to her lips. Ginny knew that if she wasn't physically keeping them apart with her hands he would be kissing her again.

He couldn't suspect something was wrong. She thanked the stars that she grew up with the twins. "Well then, good night, Harry." She gave him two quick pats on the cheek and looked up at him with what she hoped was an innocent smile.

He frowned and his eyebrows came together in confusion. His hand that was now on the back of her right thigh halted its movement. "What?"

"It's late and I really should be getting home. Which," she looked down at where their bodies were pressed together, "is kind of hard to do with you still lying on top of me."

"Oh right…right, of course," he mumbled. He sat up and ran his hand through his hair, blowing out a long breath.

After she put her shoes back on, they both stood up facing each other with expectant looks. An awkward silent moment passed before Ginny let out a small laugh and shook her head.

"Thank you, Harry, for rescuing me from what was sure to be an extremely boring night."

"Er, right…"

They stared at each other again, and Ginny fought the urge to fidget. She was just about say something when Harry spoke.

"Do you plan on having a boring afternoon tomorrow?"

"Excuse me?"

"I was thinking that if you were, I could rescue you again and maybe have lunch together."

Ginny bit her lip and considered her options. She always had lunch with Luna. Tomorrow would be a perfect opportunity to kill – correction, _talk to_ – her friend about the mess she had put Ginny in.

"Hermione always said you had a saving people thing," Ginny attempted a feeble joke. "You're making a habit out of rescuing me."

"If anyone deserves a knight in shining armor, it's you, Ginny," Harry insisted. She could see the sincerity in his eyes.

She forced a smile, ignoring the bile rising in her throat. "I have to discuss next month's issue with Luna then," she apologized. She felt terrible as the light dimmed slightly in his eyes and heard herself adding, "But how about after work?"

Where did that come from?

He smiled a bit, realizing she hadn't brushed him off. "I think I can cancel some prior arrangements – in fact I know I can. I'll send you an owl tomorrow."

She hesitated a moment before she moved closer and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "Good night, Harry," she whispered before slipping out the door.

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Harry flopped onto the couch, resting his head on the back. What a turn tonight had taken. In fact, everything that had happened this evening was unexpected. If someone had told him this morning that he would be sitting here trying to calm his body's reactions because of having an intense snog with Ginny Weasley, he would have said their fortune telling abilities rivaled that of Sybill Trelawney. He still wouldn't have believed it if he had been told that just an hour ago.

When they had arrived back to his flat, he had been even more nervous, but he was determined to make his intentions clear. The feel of her body against his when he Apparated them had almost done him in, and her running away to the bathroom after he had worked up enough nerve to kiss her hadn't helped his faltering courage. He wasn't kidding when he had said that he thought she had Apparated out without saying goodbye. Before she left the room, she had a scared look on her face, making him think he had ruined everything – including their friendship.

Harry couldn't help but laugh at the irony of the situation. Usually he was worried about women – fans – sneaking i_into/i_ his apartment, not one sneaking out. When she finally did come back, he wasn't sure what to do, thinking that even offering her wine would be too forward.

Standing up, he Banished the glasses back to the kitchen. Seeing the rumpled state of his couch brought back images of what he had been doing earlier. He didn't even try to bite back a groan as remembered how carried away he had gotten. If Ginny hadn't stopped him, he was certain he wouldn't have. That could have completely ruined his plans. If they had slept together, she might have brushed it off as a one night stand. No. That was definitely not what he wanted her to think. He would have to take things slower, starting with planning a date for the next evening.

Who would have thought a stupid bet with Seamus Finnegan was the push he needed to pursue a relationship with the girl he pined after since he was sixteen?

Harry smiled to himself.

"I am one lucky guy."

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Ginny paused outside Harry's flat, leaning against the wall for support as she gasped for breath. She could still feel the warmth of Harry's hands and how her body had responded eagerly to his kisses.

She shook her head in an attempt to clear it.

What had she done?

She had to go.

With one glance back at the door, Ginny fled.


	3. Chapter 3: Questions and Quidditch

_Author's Note: Hi everyone! I updated chapter 2 and made many changes to it plot wise. I'd suggest reading that before this one. That being said...enjoye!_

Chater 3: Questions and Quidditch

Ginny hurried into her office, hoping Luna wasn't upset at her being late

Ginny hurried into her office, hoping Luna wasn't upset at her being late. She wanted to be on her boss's good side when she talked to her about this article – and hopefully try to get out of doing it.

Surprisingly, as flakey and off-centered as Luna was, she was extremely professional when it came to her job – well, as professional as Luna could be. Ginny knew she wouldn't be in too much trouble for running late. She made it a habit to always be on time or even early to her job. Unfortunately, today she had overslept.

For the first time in years, her thoughts were plagued by a familiar green eyed boy – well, _man_ now, she corrected herself. He (and his unexpected actions) invaded her mind to the point where sleep had eluded her for half the night.

It wasn't until she was back home that the complete reality of what had happened hit her. More disturbing than the fact that she had snogged her childhood infatuation on his couch was that _he_ had kissed _her_ – and had seemed to like it.

Ginny had tossed and turned in her bed to the point where her sheets were twisted around her legs, trapping her in place. The more she thought, the more unanswered questions she had. Why had he kissed her? She didn't think he had too much to drink. Was he looking for a quick shag? He did seem surprised when she ended their kiss and went home. Was it possible he actually fancied her or was he just lonely for a serious relationship? To her knowledge he hadn't even had a girlfriend that lasted longer than a month. Ron and Hermione had only recently married. Was he jealous of his friends' relationship? As Harry's only platonic female friend – besides Hermione – was he trying to create what his best friends had?

Harry never had a real family of his own. Was that what she was? A means to finally be come an official part of the Weasley family… of Ron's family?

Her questions and scenarios became more unlikely and extreme as the night wore on. Blaming it on to much Butterbeer and wine and not enough sleep, Ginny was finally successful in pushing away the intruding thoughts and eventually fell asleep. She didn't have any real answers about Harry's intentions or motives, but one thing she was clear on was that she has a very bad feeling about this article.

Stealing a steadying breath, Ginny knocked on Luna's open door before stepping inside. She sighed with relief when she saw that her friend wasn't there. Instead she found a note addressed to her on the desk.

_Ginny, _

_I'm doing interviews all day with the witnesses who said they've seen the Minister moonlighting as a dancer in one of the local Muggle theatres. I won't be in the office at all today, so I expect you to be in charge. _

_Luna_

Ginny crumpled up the parchment and threw it in the nearest trash bin as she made her way back to her office. So much for talking to Luna. She didn't know whether to feel disappointed or relieved. Standing up to a boss – particularly one who gave you great opportunities – was not something Ginny wanted to do, but continuing in this experiment of Luna's was absolutely terrifying.

After that, the morning went as smoothly as she oversaw the progress of the other staff. When lunch time came around, Ginny found herself hungry but with neither food nor plans. Ideally she wanted to have lunch with Luna. She had hoped that over lunch she'd be able to talk Luna out of this article or at least have someone else do it.

She looked around the normally hectic work station on the main floor. Everyone was either quietly eating at their workspaces or had stepped out to grab lunch with friends. Everything seemed to be running smoothly so she headed back up the stairs.

After a short walk down the hallway, Ginny stopped in front of a door that had the words "Assistant Editor" painted on the outside. Lightly tapping her knuckles on the door, she waited a second then turned the knob and stuck her head inside.

Susan Bones looked up from her place behind her desk and smiled at Ginny. "Hi! I was wondering when I would see you today."

Ginny sighed as she stepped inside the door. "Yes, well, Luna left me in charge of things downstairs again. I've only just been able to take a break!"

"Well, sit down already. You look exhausted."

Ginny smiled her thanks before sinking down in the plush sofa that was opposite of her friend's desk. "Thanks," she replied wearily. "Is that a polite way of saying I look like hell?"

"Not at all!" Susan laughed. "It just looks like you could have used a few more hours of sleep last night. Wait a minute…" Her eyes narrowed suspiciously. "I saw the article that Luna wants you to write."

Ginny shifted guiltily in her seat, and when she didn't respond to her friend, Susan let out a gasp. "Ginny Weasley!" Ginny's head snapped up and she saw that Susan's eyes were wide and a small smirk played on her lips. In a flash she jumped out of her seat, peach robes flittering around her, and hurried over to the spot next to Ginny on the couch. "You and Luna were looking for a man last night. You didn't…oh Ginny! Not on the first date!"

Despite of her frustrations from the last twenty-four hours, Ginny had to smile. "Yes, Susan we picked a guy last night. Well, Luna did the picking, I didn't have a say really. But no – we did not…I did not …well, whatever you thought happened didn't, so get that filthy mind of yours out of the gutter!"

Susan's eyes twinkled merrily. "So what's he like? Did you kiss him? Any ideas on how you will drive him away?"

Ginny was about to answer when she heard friendly chatter down the hall. The rest of the staff must have started returning from lunch. Not ready to announce to the world what Luna wants her to do, she quickly shut and sealed the door with her wand.

"First, please, please, please don't tell anyone – even the other editors – what I am doing." Ginny knew she was sounding pathetic but it couldn't be helped. "I am trying to get out of it. This just doesn't feel right. Oh, Susan! Luna wants….No, not here. Come out to lunch with me and I'll explain everything."

Her hand that was still resting on the doorknob was sweating. A cold panic started to rise in her chest. She couldn't do this. This…this article was too much. Luna had finally started living up to her nickname back in Hogwarts. She had finally gone loony. Breathing was harder now. Susan's office, cluttered with knickknacks, plants, and photographs, now seemed to be cramped. She needed air. Soon.

"Ginny, calm down!" Grabbing her wand, Susan conjured up a bubble the width of an average dinner plate. Quickly she pushed it towards Ginny's face. When it reached her face, Ginny expected it to pop, but instead it conformed to her nose and mouth. Susan held it there and calmly said, "Breath in and out, Ginny. That's it. Good."

After a few minutes of breathing in the air in Susan's conjured bubble, Ginny pulled her face away. "Thanks", she mumbled meekly. "Sorry about that. Are you coming out to lunch with me or what?"

Susan only gave her a sad smile, "I'm sorry, I can't. I am having such a rough time making everything fit for next month's article. This is the third time Andrew's written over his space limit. I am going to have to talk to him about that.

"But I want to talk to you about this article. If you really don't feel comfortable doing it then don't. However, before you decide anything I want to know the whole story. You also need to talk to Luna. For now, just try and continue along with Luna's plan. Tomorrow – after you tell me everything and talk to Luna we can take it from there."

It could have been the fresh air she was breathing from the bubble, or maybe it was Susan's reassuring words. What ever it was, Ginny felt immensely better – even if she had millions of thoughts racing through her head. Impulsively, she reached out and pulled Susan into a hug.

"Thank you Sus. Where did you learn that trick with the bubble?"

Returning to her place behind her desk, Susan waived off Ginny's question. "Oh, growing up my younger brother was a bit high strung. Whenever he got anxious, that's what my mother did for him. It's a modified Bubblehead charm. Mum taught it to me in case she wasn't around when he had an attack."

Thanking Susan again, Ginny made plans with her for lunch tomorrow before leaving the office. With a rumble of her stomach, she realized she still hadn't eaten.

Briefly she considered seeing if Harry's offer for lunch was still open, but since they were doing something that night it seemed too forward. Well, he said they were doing something. Ginny had yet to hear from him and it was already past noon.

Ginny sat heavily in her chair. This man was driving her crazy. She needed to sort thing things out logically. She couldn't help but smile slightly. The smartest, most logical person that Ginny knew (that most anyone knew) was her best friend and sister-in-law.

Walking over to the nearest fireplace, she grabbed a handful of Floo powder. Sticking her head in the flames she shouted, "Hermione Weasley!"

Ginny checked her watch. She only had fifteen minutes until she was expected back at work. She and Hermione had been chatting away over lunch about inconsequential things as Ginny gathered her wits to ask her friend for advice. Finally, knowing it was now or never, she asked what she had been wanting to ask since they started talkng.

"Hermione," she started causally, training her eyes on her fork, "have you ever had to do something for work that you sort of didn't want to do?"

"Of course!" Hermione laughed, her curls bouncing around her face. "Ginny, work is work. Its not always fun and you don't always want to go, but we're adults now and its something we just have to do."

Ginny nodded and took another bite of her food. It was hard not to let her frustration show. She couldn't bring herself to ask her friend what she wanted to outright, but she knew Hermione wasn't grasping the seriousness of her question.

She must not have hidden her reaction well, because the ever astute Hermione leaned closer with a look of concern on her face. "Ginny, no one is hurting you, are they? Inappropriate conduct in the workplace is not tolerated, you know. If you are having any problems you should contact the MLES. Ron–"

"No!" Ginny cut in, chuckling a bit at what her friend had inferred. "Nothing like that, I assure you."

Hermione relaxed and sat back into her chair, but gave Ginny a calculating look. "It's Luna again, isn't it? She's making you do one of her off-the-wall articles. Ginny," she huffed, spearing a piece of lettuce with her fork, "you can say no. You don't have to do the article if you don't want to. Think about your reputation as a journalist!"

"I know," she conceded, hanging her head. "But I don't think you understand. She only asks me to do write about certain things every couple of months. It's so much better than at The_ Daily Prophet_. When I was there, I couldn't write about anything that I wanted to."

"True. Plus, I don't think that anyone reading _The Quibbler_ will worry much about your reputation," Hermione pointed out.

Ginny whipped her head up and narrowed her eyes at Hermione until she saw her friend trying to hide a smile. When Ginny first started working there, Hermione was very against it, saying that no one else would hire her if they saw on her resume that she had worked there. But Ginny argued that she could work to increase _The Quibbler_'s credibility, and indeed she has been doing just that. Circulation had increased, although Hermione joked that the entire Weasley family subscribing was the reason for that, and her working there had encouraged other frustrated _Daily Prophet_ writers to seek jobs with Luna. She had even written an article or two herself, hoping to gain support for the new laws she was trying to pass to allow werewolves more job opportunities.

Hermione looked curiously at her. "What does she have you writing about now? Wait, no" she cut herself off, holding up her hand and squeezing her eyes shut with a grimace on her face. "I don't think I want to know. Luna is harmless, for the most part. Go with your gut, Ginny."

Again, Ginny nodded. That was the problem. She felt as if her gut was torn into two separate directions. One half was weighed down with an unbearable sinking feeling like this was the wrong thing to do. The other was jumping into her throat every time she thought about the fact that for all intents and purposes she was now dating Harry Potter.

Before either could say anything else on the subject, a tawny owl swooped down in front of Ginny, startling both witches, and landed dangerously close to her goblet. Untying the note that was addressed to her, she gave the owl a bit of her food and watched as it soared out the open window of the pub.

"What is it?" Hermione asked.

She let out a strangled laugh before looking up from her letter. "My assignment," she explained hastily before quickly folding the parchment and shoving it in her pocket. "Do you know where I can get a copy of a newspaper?"

Hermione looked around and spotted a discarded copy of The_ Daily Prophet_. "Here you go."

"Thanks," she mumbled, leafing through the newspaper until she reached the sports section. She continued scanning, looking for the schedule of upcoming Quidditch games. She couldn't believe Harry was paying much attention to her ramblings last night at dinner. When she said she hadn't had the opportunity to see a Tornados game, she didn't expect to actually go see one.

She tried not to smile when she remembered what Harry wrote in his note. _"Hopefully this will make up for the last game you saw. Maybe it will have a better ending." _He was trying to be sweet, she'll give him that. She knew what he meant when he mentioned the ending. After the World Cup there was the Death Eater attack. What she wasn't sure about was how he was going to correct it. That happened after the match ended. What did he expect to do afterwards?

Heat threatened to consume her face when one possibility came to mind. Well that definitely wasn't happening, she'd see to that. No, she was going solely for work. Hermione was right after all, she was an adult and sometimes you don't like your job. She'd go tonight and talk to Luna tomorrow.

She didn't know that Hermione was watching her closely and saw the light dim in Ginny's eyes.

For the second time that day Ginny was running late. Harry was due to arrive at her flat any minute now, and she had only just gotten home. Just as she reached her bedroom door she heard the familiar 'pop' of someone Apparating, followed but a soft knocking on her door.

Whispering the unlocking charm on her door, she continued towards her bedroom, shouting, "Its open!" before disappearing behind the door.

As she was shrugging out of her work robe, Harry's muffled voice was heard, "Ginny?"

"Back here! I'll be out in a minute. I just need to change out of my work clothes."

"Need any help?"

Ginny couldn't help but roll her eyes as she searched for her shirt to wear underneath her robe. She could practically see his cheeky grin. "Very funny, Potter!" she laughed, "There's some Butterbeer in the kitchen, if you want one. If not just make yourself comfortable – and I mean in the other room, _not_ in here!"

She heard his faint chuckle and fading footsteps. When she didn't hear anything else she quickly donned a Chudley Cannons shirt she had borrowed a few months ago when she stayed over Ron and Hermione's a few days before the wedding. She's been using it as a night shirt ever since.

She looked down in displeasure. It was the only Cannons shirt she had, and since they were Tutshill's opposition tonight, she was planning on wearing it. Unfortunately she forgot that it came down mid thigh and the sleeves past her elbows. Ron would kill her if she attempted a shrinking charm on it, so she rolled up the sleeves. To solve the length problem she gathered up all the extra fabric and tied it into a knot at the small of her back.

Ginny couldn't ignore the bubble of excitement growing in the pit of her stomach. She hadn't been to a professional game in years. If she was being completely honest, she did have fun with Harry last night, before other things happened. Knowing she had little time left to get ready, she pulled her hair up, tying it back, and grabbed her cloak off her bed.

Harry tried not to smile when he thought about Ginny seeing where they would be sitting. He had to call in a few favors, but he managed to secure a top box all to themselves.

Seamus, Dean, and Neville insisted on an impromptu lunch that afternoon to hear how the previous night went. Not wanting to relive all his blunders and bouts of nervousness – for he was sure to be laughed at – he glossed over the first part of the night and spent much more time on retelling how things went after he and Ginny returned to his flat.

While Neville and Dean listened to history with excited and amused looks respectively, Seamus seemed disgruntled by Harry's progress. This was confirmed when later on he said that Harry would still "mess it up somehow".

Knowing that Seamus wouldn't be of any help, and that Neville never had much success in the romance department, Harry pulled Dean aside after the other two left, before Dean returned to his job. He told Dean that he asked out Ginny again tonight, but still hadn't planned anything.

With a frown of deep thought, Dean sat back in his chair and asked Harry what Ginny's interests were. Harry's only response was to rake his hands through his hair and shrug, while meekly answering, "Quidditch?"

"Are you asking me or telling me?" Dean asked with a wary look on his face. When Harry didn't answer he continued, "I know she played at Hogwarts, but what about _now_?"

"How am I supposed to know?!" Normally Harry would have been able to write a novel about Ginny's interests, but as he was pressured to think of something his mind was blank. He started to panic. Harry started to panic. He should have owled Ginny by now with plans. He didn't want her to think he had forgotten about her, or that their date was low on his priorities. If he had to develop a serious relationship with her he had to do everything right. But did he know what "right" was? He had never done this before. The women he had dated were all nice and he didn't use them, but never did he picture a long term relationship with any of them. Now he _had_ to.

"Has she said or done anything that indicates she still likes it?"

Harry thought back to the night before. Remembering vaguely the conversation about him playing for the Tornados, he told Dean about that. Together they decided that going to a professional Quidditch game was a good second date. After figuring out what to write in his note, Harry and Dean watched as the local post owl flew off with it. Before Harry could Disapparate, Dean stopped him.

"Listen, mate," he started, his voice earnest. "I think Seamus was a prat to hold those pictures over your head. Its one thing to make fun of you among friends but he shouldn't have bet you that he would send them to the paper. If…if you need any help just Floo me. I may not be an expert or anything, but a fresh perspective always helps."

So now here he was. He and Ginny were going to watch a Tornados game against the Cannons. It wasn't the best match-up, with the Tornados leading the league and Cannons near the bottom, but as a former player and a worker in the Department he got complimentary tickets when he wanted them. Tonight was a bit of a short notice, but after Flooing a couple of people, he was able to get one of the best top boxes in the stadium.

"Harry, are you sure we haven't passed our seats?"

He gave Ginny a small smile and with his hand on the small of her back, gently guided her to continue up the stairs. "Just a bit farther." Slightly behind her now, he let his grin grow a bit.

"Any farther and you'll have to carry me up," she mumbled.

Harry just chuckled and told her to keep walking. He knew it was on the next level. When he saw the top box that had "Potter" on the outside Ginny stopped walking and he heard a small gasp.

Hiding a smile, he stopped beside her, right outside the box. "Well, are we going in? I distinctly remember someone complaining of the climb. Surely you need to sit down and rest awhile."

She shot him an agitated look before stepping inside. She didn't sit down right away. He suspected she was doing it out of defiance from his comment. Harry watched as she took in their surroundings. He followed her gaze, pleased that all of his requests were done. Instead of rows of seats there was one comfy, plush, blue couch. To the left sat an end table with two omnioculars.

"This is incredible, Harry!" Ginny said in a rush, as she trailed her hand along the cushion of the couch. "Its nothing like the top box I remember from years ago."

Harry was enjoying her enthusiasm. "That's because this is a private top box. The one we were in last time was for public officials and other Ministry workers. It's used mostly for when they are trying to strike deals or gain support for some reason or another."

She nodded absently and walked over to get a closer look at something. With a grimace he realized who ever set up the box added pictures of him from when he was on the team. Ginny was currently looking at a group shot of them.

After Ginny moved on, Harry moved forward to get a closer look at the picture. He couldn't help but sigh as he took in his appearance in the photograph. He resigned himself to always having messy hair, but this must have been taken after one of the practices for it was even more mussed than usual.

He watched as his photograph self nudged the player next to him and continued to wave at the camera. Then his teammate and beater gave him a playful shove back. Harry, being a third of Brutus's size lost his footing and stumbled slightly to the left bumping into one of the chasers.

Harry only shook his head as his placed the photo back on the table, face down. He was about to inspect the other pictures when he heard Ginny gasp.

"Oh, Harry, this is just wonderful!"

Harry walked to where Ginny was behind the couch. There, someone had set up a table full of sweets to nibble on.

"Chocoballs, my favorite! How'd you know?" she exclaimed before reaching for one. He'd known those were her favorite treats since his seventh year at school, but he wouldn't tell her that. It seems his covert, obsessive watching finally paid off. Now Ginny was carefully decided which chocoball to eat first, as if she could tell which one would taste the best. Finally after settling on one, she raised it to her lips.

He watched as her eyes slid closed right before her teeth sunk into the sweet. Staring in abject fascination, he saw a bit of strawberry mousse escape the side and found a spot in the corner of her mouth to reside. He felt his mouth go dry when he heard a soft moan of satisfaction in the back of her throat. His head spun. She was doing this on purpose! She had to be.

Her throat bobbed as she swallowed before she placed the rest of the sweet into her mouth, savoring every last bite of it. Eyes still closed, her tongue darted out, capturing the stray mousse left on her lip.

She took an obscene amount of time to finish the chocoball, only further convincing Harry that she knew exactly what she was doing: driving him further around the twist. When Ginny opened her eyes she found Harry staring at her.

"Mmm, that was amazing. I haven't had one in ages," she said with a slight smile.

Harry let out a strangled croak in response. Finding it hard to swallow, he cleared his throat before saying in a hoarse voice, "Yeah, amazing."

"No, really, Harry. These are fabulous. You should taste it."

He was about to lean in and kiss her to taste the chocolate like she suggested when she turned and faced the trays of food. Harry quickly caught his balance before he stumbled forward. When she turned around she had another chocoball held between her finger and her thumb. "Well, aren't you going to try one?"

He wasn't able to believe he misinterpreted her. Not ready to give up, he took a step forward and grasped the wrist of her outstretched arm instead of the chocolate. He brought his head down to meet her hand, never once breaking eye contact with her. He paused briefly to take in her expression. Her slightly open mouth was the only thing that betrayed her shock. Merlin, she really wasn't trying to wind him up! If she was that sexy unintentionally, then he was in trouble.

She must have noticed the questioning look on his face, because her mouth slowly formed a smirk and one eyebrow rose as if challenging him to continue. Never one to back out of something, he pulled her hand closer and brought his mouth down to take a bite of the sweet. He bit into it slowly, taking care to let his bottom lip brush against her thumb. Somewhere in the back of his awareness, his mind registered that the chocoball was in fact very tasty, but his concentration at the moment was on Ginny.

Her eyes were gazing at his lips and he licked them to get the excess mousse off it. He saw her gulp then look back up to meet his eyes. He smiled slightly and bent back down to the hand that he was still holding. Slower this time, he took the rest of it into his mouth.

Ginny pulled her hand out of his grasp. Still looking at Harry she raised her hand to her own mouth, and licked the melted chocolate off her finger. He thought he would die as he watched her lips close around the tip of her finger. It was only after she was finished removing all remaining bits of chocolate off her fingers that he remembered to swallow the rest that was still in his mouth.

"You're right," he said finally, his voice much deeper that normal. "It's delicious."

She leaned in closer to him, her voice just above a whisper, "I'm always right, Harry."

With a wink, she passed him and walked around to the front of the couch.

He felt like he had a sticking charm on his feet. Something wasn't right. She had to be teasing him. There was chocolate, feeding each other food, licking fingers, intense gazes, moaning! He had everything, but there was no kiss at the end! Oh no, he was losing his touch. That scene would have had any other witch asking him to skip the game and just go back to her place. But Ginny did nothing. Not even one lousy a peck on the cheek!

He broke out of his trance by Ginny's call.

"Harry, the game's about to start."

With a shake of his head to clear it, he turned his attention back towards her. He'd just have to work harder. Harry Potter was up for a challenge.

As he looked back at Ginny, she was standing in front of the couch shrugging off her cloak. He couldn't help but appreciate her outfit. This was the Ginny Weasley he was more comfortable with. Jeans and a t-shirt. He could handle that. Only this time, he noticed, her shirt was enticingly tied around her midriff to bare the lower parts of her back and stomach.

She looked great, he concluded, as he walked around the couch to join her – even if the orange clashed with her hair….

"Ginny! What are you…but I played…and you're wearing…The CANNONS?! You're supporting the _Cannons_?!

"What about it, Potter?" she countered, though amusement showed on her face. _Probably from the way I acted like a bumbling fool_, he thought bitterly.

"But you're…_we're_ here – in one of the Tornados' private Top Boxes – with a former Tornados player, wearing a Cannons shirt. You know they're going to lose," he added childishly.

Ginny actually snorted at his comment. "Of _course_ they're going to lose Harry! They're the Cannons, they _always_ lose!" She obviously saw the confusion still on his face for she continued, "Most of the people here are rooting for the Tornados. And most of them are only fans because they win. Either that or they are impressed that the famous Harry Potter played for them. I'm sorry. I'm not impressed by either of those things."

Harry just stared at her, brow furrowed and mouth open. Was he supposed to be insulted or complimented? Eventually, he surmised that it was a good thing that Ginny wasn't impressed by Harry's titles. That was something that always irritated him about the other women he dated. They were always asking him weird questions about his history with Hermione Granger. Even though they had been nothing but friends, and that she was now Hermione Weasley, they still asked. Bloody papers. They would want to go to a lot of public functions where they knew they would be photographed. The thing he hated most however, was when they stared at his scar – or worse when someone actually asked if they could touch it.

But here was Ginny Weasley, wearing a t-shirt that clashed horribly with her hair, rooting for the team that was guaranteed to lose, supporting the team that was playing against his former team, and telling him she wasn't impressed by his fame. He couldn't help but laugh.

He saw Ginny watching him with a curious smile, waiting for him to explain what he found so amusing. He only shook his head and laughed some more.

Finally she cocked her head to one side and asked, "So are you going to tell me what's so funny?"

Harry smiled down at Ginny, who was now sitting on the sofa, "Nothing. You're brilliant, you know that?"

She looked out at the Quidditch pitch with a self-satisfied smile on her face. "Yes, but it's always nice to be reminded every once and awhile." Harry only chuckled some more.

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Come on, Giggles," she said, patting the couch. "The game is about to start."

Harry noticed she was right. Both teams were now circling the pitch. Apparently he had missed the entrance of the players. He shrugged off his cloak and sat next to her on the couch. Ginny looked over at him before laughing quietly to herself.

"What is it?" he asked, hoping he had not done anything stupid, or had chocolate smeared across his face.

"Its just…" She looked over at his shirt than back at hers. "We're quite a pair, aren't we?"

Harry looked down at the shirt he was wearing. He had on his blue Tornados shirt that had "Seeker" written across the front and "POTTER" across the back. Smiling at her, he said, "Yeah, I guess we are."

It was fifteen minutes into the game and the score was already 40-0 in favor of the Tornados. Harry watched in fascination as Ginny leaped from her seat every few minutes to yell obscene phrases at the Cannons' abysmal defenses. He couldn't help but think what her mother would do if she heard her.

"You're PATHETIC, Thompson! I'm surprised you can even stay on your broom…" she screeched at the Keeper, who had now let a fifth Quaffle through the goals. Ginny continued yelling suggestions for what he should do with his broom that made his eyebrows rise into his hairline. He was impressed, he had never thought of putting a broom there before. She had quite the imagination.

Ten minutes later she collapsed back into the sofa next to Harry. He looked over at her and joked, "Are you tired, or have you lost your voice, or are you just resting up for round two?"

She gave him a sheepish look before giving a throaty laugh; he wasn't surprised that it was a bit scratchy. "Sorry, I guess it's been too long. I forgot how much I enjoyed it when I was in school. But you are right. I guess I went a bit overboard on the screaming." She coughed, trying to clear her throat, then arched her head back to look at the table of sweets. "I don't suppose we have any Butterbeer back there."

"Let me see," he said, while jumping up to look in the cabinet beneath the treats. Unfortunately, it only housed a few blankets and Tornados memorabilia. With a smile he grabbed a few items of choice and sat back down. "No Butterbeer, but I did find this."

Before Ginny was able to get a proper look at what he brought, Harry slapped a Tornados badge on the front of her shirt and cast a sticking charm. Ginny grabbed and twisted her shirt to see what he attached and Harry tried not to notice that in doing so she had raised her shirt even more, exposing more of her stomach than before. Before he was able to be completely distracted, Ginny looked up at him. "What did you do?"

He gave a casual shrug and watched as the Tornados' Keeper successfully blocked another goal, keeping the score at 70-0. "Just seeing that you root for the proper team." He was barely able to conceal his smile.

"Harry, this is Ron's"

"What?!" His head snapped back at her and met her wide eyes.

"This is Ron's shirt."

"Ron's…"

"…shirt," she finished for him. "Yes. You, Harry Potter, have just charmed a Tornados badge to a shirt owned by none other than Ronald Weasley, self-proclaimed – and agreed by all – biggest Cannons fan ever."

Indeed he did. Harry looked down at the badge. It was now partially covering the "O" in "Cannons". He watched as the tornado twisted and turned, spinning and kicking up debris everywhere. He half expected it to spin right off the badge onto the shirt, destroying the Cannons logo in the process. _It might as well do that_, he mused, _that's how Ron would see it. _

Ginny's question brought him out of his musings. "So why don't you just remove the charm?"

"Er…I can't," he replied lamely.

"Why not?" Oh great, she looked like she was fighting a smile. At least someone was amused by his potentially fatal mistake.

"It kind of has to…wear off."

"Wear off?"

"Yeah, you kind of just have to wait." He was an idiot. He…he was a dead man. If there was something Ron was unreasonable about, it was his unhealthy loyalty to his favorite Quidditch team. That and disapproving of every date his sister ever had. Bugger. He should just leave now. Move to Canada – maybe Switzerland, change his name. He'd have to figure out how to hide his scar…

"Good."

"What?!" he squeaked. Great, now his voice sounded like an eleven-year-old girl.

"I said, 'Good'." She wasn't able to contain her smile any longer. She was evil. She was sadistic. She was …she was laughing! "I'm sorry, Harry!" she said, through her giggles. "Its just that it looks like you'd rather face Voldemort again then tell Ron you stuck a Tornados badge to his Cannons shirt."

"Yes, well I've never drawn a heart or butterfly or something over his Dark Mark," answered Harry into his palms. This sent Ginny into gales of laughter, which he stubbornly refused to acknowledge as he remained hunched over with his head in his hands. He only looked up when her laughs turned to coughs. Quickly he lightly tapped her back, hoping that would help her.

Finally she waved him off. "Sorry. I guess I over did it a bit earlier with the cheering." She gave him a small smile before continuing. "I really wouldn't worry about Ron. He has to realize the shirt's missing first, then figure out I was the one who took it, before noticing there is a Tornados badge on it. By then, hopefully the charm will wear off."

Feeling slightly better, Harry sat up straighter. "So he doesn't know you have it?"

"No. I've had it for over a month now. He has so many it will take him awhile to work his way through them all before realizing he is short one." She gave another small cough. "Do you know where they sell refreshments here?"

"I think they are all the way down by…oh yes! YES! GO!" He was screaming at the players now. The flash of blue distracted him from answering Ginny's question. It looked like the Seeker had spotted the Snitch. Harry leapt off his seat to the edge of the box. He leaned over the rail trying to find the Snitch on his own. Both Seekers were speeding towards the ground now. Chudley's seemed to be following Whitmore, the Tornados' Seeker. Whitmore flew closer to the ground, showing no signs of stopping. Scanning the field himself, Harry still hadn't spotted the Snitch.

With a groan, he stood up straight and stopped searching. Whitmore was feinting. The other seeker, Shields, seemed to have realized this too for he pulled up a split second before Whitmore rolled away from the ground. The entire stadium let out a groan of disappointment. The extra 150 points from catching the Snitch would have given the Tornados a total of 250-0. This would have been an impressive score; however, they were playing the Cannons. Most decent teams averaged a 300 point lead against Chudley unless the Snitch made an appearance early in the match.

Glancing away from the match, he saw Ginny smirking at him from the couch. With a sheepish smile he brought his attention back to her. "Sorry. What was I saying?"

Ginny raised her eyebrow at him but only said, "We were discussing where I could find something to drink."

"Oh right. Usually there are some stands on the bottom level by the entrance," he offered.

"Fantastic," she replied dryly. She looked down the stairs and was probably remembering the ten minute climb up. Biting her lip, Ginny looked back up at Harry out of the corner of her eye. Not sure what she wanted to do, he just smiled at her, waiting.

After looking at him for a few more moments, Ginny heaved a sigh and stood up. Reaching for her cloak she said, "Well if I am not back in an hour inform the Aurors!"

She was almost out of the box before Harry came to his senses. "Wait!" he shouted, rushing out to stop Ginny. "I'll get it for you."

"Thanks Harry, but you don't have to do that," she said, trying to side step him.

"No honestly," he said, still blocking her, "I'd be happy to. Besides I don't think you'd be safe down there."

When she shot him an indignant look and he hastily continued, "The Tornados fans will see that orange shirt from a mile off and if there happen to be any Cannons fans here they won't be very happy to see a Tornados badge on your shirt. To them it'd be considered sacrilege."

When she didn't respond right away, he took the opportunity to steer her back into the top box. "Just watch the game and I'll be back before you can say Quidditch."

He chose to ignore her incredulous snort and raced down the stairs. If he was quick he could be back in fifteen minutes. He shouted "excuse me's" as he approached fans on the stairs and apologies when they didn't move fast enough to avoid him bumping into them. Before he knew it he was at the main level and after a few minutes of searching he found a sign telling him that the refreshment stand was nearby. Thanking the fates that it wasn't on the opposite side of the stadium, Harry broke into a jog.

Fortunately, the announcer's Sonorus Charm was strong enough to carry inside the halls of the stadium. As expected, the Tornados continued to deflect any of the Cannons' attempts at scoring.

He slowed down to a walk as be saw the line for the drinks and his heart plummeted. It looked like his luck had run out. A quick scan of the queue told Harry that there were over a dozen people already waiting. He knew finding another one was out of the question. By the time he located it he was sure there would be a queue just as long as this one here. Sighing, he resigned himself to wait.

He thought the date was going well so far. They got along great, just as they always had. One of the things he liked best about Ginny was the light banter that there was between them. She knew him well and didn't hesitate to use that against him while joking around.

Harry heard a man farther up the line shush the crowd. Quickly enough, the entire crowd was quiet as they listened to the announcer's commentary.

"There goes Whitmore racing toward the Tornados' goal posts. It looks like he has spotted the Snitch! Shields has finally noticed Whitmore's advance. Both brooms are excellent but Whitmore is the more skilled flier. Not much competition here."

The room was split between cheers and groans of disappointment. No one wanted to miss the end of the game. Half of the fans on line dashed back into the stadium to catch a glimpse of what was happening. Harry was tempted to follow but saw the line shrink to only three people.

"Whitmore turns into a steep dive. Let's hope he's not feinting again! Shields is slowly gaining. If the Cannons' get the Snitch they'll only lose by 20 points this time! HE SPOTTED THE SNITCH! Shields is no longer tracking Whitmore. This isn't a feint this time, people! So far this season, Whitmore has caught – OW! That's got to hurt! It seems Shields has misjudged the turn and went wide. Both Seekers are now being checked by the on-call Healer…"

Harry watched with a smug smile as disappointed fans filtered back into the concession area. They would all be waiting at the end of the line now. It was only a few minutes of waiting before Harry was being served.

"Two Butterbeers, please," he said, hoping the kid would be quick about it.

"Yes sir. Would that be warm or chilled?"

Bugger. He hadn't thought to ask Ginny that. He was too focused on getting her to stay in the box while he sprinted away. Now that he thought about it, he didn't know which she liked better. He knew she ordered one last night, but couldn't remember what kind. Harry doubted she would be upset if he chose wrong, but still, he wanted to make a good impression.

"Sir?"

"What? Oh right. Um – I'll take two of each," he decided. Maybe she would think he was thoughtful instead of forgetful.

Slipping his fingers through the handles of the mugs, two per hand, he hastened back to his seats. It was an odd feeling, Harry realized, carrying one chilled and one warm drink in each hand. His hands didn't know if they should be hot or cold. At least he didn't have one very hot hand and one freezing one.

Pausing briefly at the bottom of the stairs, Harry looked up. It didn't look like that high of a climb the first time around. Silently thanking himself for keeping in shape, he began his ascent. His journey was slowed briefly when he was caught behind a rather rotund man who was taking his time returning to his seat. As he was following the wizard, he came to the conclusion that following Ginny up earlier and being able to watch the sway of her hips was much more pleasant.

Finally, his top box came into view. He didn't bother to suppress the chuckle that came to his lips when he saw his date. She was screaming again. Rather violently. The Tornados had scored another goal (making the score now 180 – 10). He almost felt bad for the Cannons, they usually scored more than one goal, but up against the best in the league they really didn't stand much of a chance.

Continuing up the stairs Harry alternated between stealing glances when he heard the crowd gasp and scream and watching Ginny. She was sitting down now, but she was staring daggers at the Cannons' Keeper. She seemed to put most of the blame on him for their abysmal playing.

Ginny hadn't noticed his approach. Her eyes followed the quaffle like a cat stalking its prey. He stepped in the box and was just about to announce his arrival to Ginny when she gasped and jumped out of her seat.

"Shite!" he cried.

In her enthusiasm, Ginny's arm swung wide, knocking hot and cold butterbeer down his front.

"Oh no! Harry, I am so sorry. Damn. I didn't see you. What were you thinking, sneaking up on me?! Here let me get that." She tried to wipe the liquid off his shirt that was now dripping onto his pants.

"Oh, what an idiot! What am I thinking?" She was talking more to herself than him. Rushing over to her cloak she retrieved her wand. He froze when she pointed her wand at him. He didn't think she would do anything, but it still made him wary to be at the other end of another person's wand. "Hold still, Harry. I'll have you cleaned up in no time."

"That's okay Gin – AH!" he ended with a gasp. She had cast a drying spell, but was a bit to enthusiastic in her haste. "Hot hot hot!!" he cried, trying to pluck the shirt away from his chest.

"Merlin! I'm sorry Harry!" In attempt to relieve Harry from the heat Ginny rushed forward, ripped his shirt out of his trousers and roughly shoved her hands underneath keeping her hands between his body and the hot fabric.

Harry froze when he felt her hands on his bare chest. If he though the drinks were hot, it was nothing compared to the feeling of her hands on him. They seemed to sear into his skin. His heart pounded and he was sure that if he checked there would be two small hand prints on his chest.

Ginny was panting from exertion and what Harry hoped was an affect of being close to him. She looked at his shirt mournfully, seeing the stain of the Butterbeer start to set in. "Oh, Harry," she groaned softly, "I don't know what's got into me. I was so clumsy. What must you think of me! And now," she continued, "your Seeker shirt is ruined."

"You know what they say," he replied seriously, his voice an octave lower, and shifted slightly closer to her. "Lose a Knut, find a Galleon." His eyes flicked down to how close they were standing then back to her eyes.

Her mouth dropped open and the expression on her face was a mix of confusion and shock. After a moment though, the corners of her mouth quirked up and was followed by laughter. So much laughter, in fact, that she threw her head back in uncontained mirth.

He watched her, dumbstruck, as she slipped her hands out from under his shirt and collapsed onto the couch. "You're incorrigible, you know that?" she said, slightly breathless from laughter. "Honestly, 'Lose a Knut, find a Galleon' !"

His shoulders slumped and he let out a dejected sigh. He didn't understand. This was the third time in less than twenty four hours that he was about to kiss her when she turned away. It was like she didn't want to kiss him. Something he might have believed if it wasn't for last night's events. Maybe she regretted it. Maybe she was only here now because she promised last night.

He felt her hand slip into his and drag him down next to her with surprising strength. Ginny was watching him with a curious expression on her face. Her amusement had died down, but he still saw traces of it in her brown eyes and slight smile. "You look like someone told you Christmas was cancelled this year." She bit her lip and looked away. However, Harry noticed she had not let go of his hand yet. "Harry, I really am sorry. I don't know how I screwed up that spell. Now your shirts ruined and I…"

Sitting there next to Ginny, he had no idea what to do. She looked so upset over the shirt and he could care less about it! He had two more like it at home, and could get a closet full of them if he Floo'ed someone and asked. His heart dropped to the pit of his stomach when he heard a sniff coming from her direction. Merlin, did he hate crying women!

"Hey," he said softly, resting a hand on her shoulder. She didn't flinch away or burst into tears so he saw that as a good sign. "It's okay. Honestly. See?" He took out his wand and pointed it at himself and said, "_Scourgify_. All better now!"

He looked down to see that his shirt was almost perfect except for a slight discolouration where the drinks were spilled. Hopefully Ginny couldn't tell. When he looked up, he saw her bottom lip trembling as she stared at the slight stain. Apparently she did notice.

"I guess we're even now," he said, trying to cheer her up. The comment seemed to distract her for a moment and she looked up at him in confusion.

"Even for what?" she asked in a slightly shaky voice. Please, please don't cry.

"I ruined your – er, Ron's shirt, and now mine is a bit…um, worn."

Her face seemed a bit more hopeful. "Yeah?"

"Yeah," he replied firmly. Despite the mixed signals he was getting that night, he bravely wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer to his body. He relaxed a bit when she didn't protest. "Now, how about some Butterbeer?"

Ginny lifted her head from where she was resting it on his shoulder. "Harry, I knocked them all over you."

"Only the ones in my right hand. I was able to save the ones in my left," he clarified, nodding his head to the table of sweets behind them. Ginny snapped her head around to see two untouched mugs of Butterbeer. One chilled and one warm. She stared at them like they had started to waltz around the table. She turned her shocked face to Harry, before a small smile played across her face.

"No, thanks. I'm not that thirsty anymore," she said sweetly before returning her head back to his shoulder.

Thankfully Ginny's head was turned toward the match so she didn't see the look of indignation on his face. After all that she wasn't thirsty anymore? He missed half the game, got stuck behind an overly large man whom he was convinced had a diet consisting solely of beans, had Butterbeer spilled all over him, and he had been burned from a poorly cast drying spell, _and she wasn't thirsty anymore?_

Harry heard Ginny sigh and burrow further into him. He looked down at the top of her head and tightened his hold on her. _Then again_, he thought, _maybe it wasn't too bad after all_.

Ginny sighed and tried not to smile too widely. She felt bad for Harry, she really did, but she was having too much fun. She had to admit, her timing in knocking over the drinks was perfect. If he was paying attention at all, he would have noticed that nothing remotely exciting was happening in the game.

Thankfully, he wasn't suspicious of her botched drying charm. It was an easy spell that any competent third year could do. She didn't know if she should feel proud of her acting skills or insulted that he thought she couldn't cast a simple spell under pressure.

He was handling his own, however. She didn't think he would do that well with her crying. She remembered how he was around Hermione when she would become emotional. Maybe next time she should do full out sobs. He surprised her when she saw that he bought extra drinks. She was also surprised at how much she was enjoying her time with Harry. The last time they had truly spent time together, just the two of them, they had still been students.

_He obviously thinks ahead, _she thought, as she leaned into the comforting warmth of Harry's frame. She blinked slowly, her eyelids feeling heavy as she tried to follow the Chasers up and down the pitch, feeling lulled by the steady rise and fall of Harry's chest.

Three hours later, the game was still going strong. In that time, the Cannons were able to score a few more goals bringing them up to 100 points. Unfortunately for them, they were still trailing by 360 points. The game had slowed due to both teams feeling fatigued as they waited for either one of the Seekers to catch the Snitch.

Harry once again looked down at the sleeping frame of the girl next to him. She had drifted off about two and half hours ago. He hadn't realized until he asked her a question and received no response. He wasn't quite sure what to do, if he should wake her or not. She might not have wanted to fall asleep, but then again, since she had, then she must have needed it.

It was nice, he concluded, as he continued to watch her. She was using him as a pillow and not that long ago her arm had snaked its way across his waist, using him as a substitute for any stuffed animal she might have slept with at night. He rubbed his hand up and down her bare arm and felt goose bumps. Kicking himself for not thinking of it sooner, he pulled out his wand and summoned the blanket underneath the table of sweets. Once the Tornados blanket was securely wrapped around both of them, he felt Ginny breathe a relaxed sigh before trying to nestle closer. He hadn't done this in awhile. It was nicer to be in a relationship, any relationship, than none at all.

That wasn't completely true. Harry let out a disgusted sigh as he thought about his last girlfriend, Claire. He should have known from the start it was going to be a disaster. It only took a week for that annoying laugh of hers to irritate him to no end. She laughed. A lot. She laughed at everything he said, even if it wasn't funny. She was dead gorgeous but couldn't tell the difference between a kneazle and a pixie. He couldn't believe that lasted an entire month. Just remembering her laugh sent shudders of irritation through his body.

That was one good thing about Ginny. She had a nice laugh, even when she was laughing at him and not with him. It was deep and throaty. He still couldn't believe how much she had grown up. She felt so small curled up next to him, and yet there were parts about her, like her exposed waist (which was higher due to the way she was leaning), which screamed that she was nothing but woman.

Harry watched as the lights in the stadium reflected off her hair. Not able to help himself, he leaned down and placed a kiss on the crown of her head. Her hair looked so shiny and soft. Remembering the way it felt the night before, he ran a couple fingers through her ponytail. It was just as silky as it was when they were kissing. She really did have nice hair, he concluded as he took a closer look at it. There were all shades of red, ranging from a dark auburn that made up most of her hair, to light strands of nearly gold. Her hair was long, smelled of something flowery, and clashed horribly with her shirt. _Ron's_ shirt, he corrected himself.

The shirt of the most overprotective brother in the world. Harry let his head fall to the back of the couch as he stared up at the night sky. He didn't know what he was going to do. He wasn't thinking clearly the night before when he agreed to this bet. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Though, his senses might have been clouded a bit by the way Ginny looked in that dress.

He did not want to tell Ron anything about this. He certainly would kill Harry if he found out about the bet, but he wouldn't put it past Ron to thrash him just on principle for thinking of his little sister that way. He remembered the "little talk" Ron had with Dean the beginning of their sixth year that ended with Dean sporting a black eye and Ron, a smug smile.

Then there was that bloke Ginny dated after she left Hogwarts, Daniel something or other. He was a right prat though. He didn't deserve a girl like Ginny. He was a few years older then Ginny and was a Hufflepuff. He remembered the twins having quite a laugh at Daniel's expense. In the end a few too many of their tricks found their way into Daniel's food, bed, and body that he hadn't stayed around long.

Harry looked up when he heard the crowd cheering. Both Seekers were racing down the length of the pitch with their arms stretched out. Tornados were ahead, their Seeker being the more skilled flyer. It wasn't long before he raised his fist in victory with the Snitch clutched safely inside. The half empty stadium erupted in cheers – Tornado fans because they won, and Cannons because they could now go home.

He was surprised that Ginny didn't wake up from the noise, but reasoned that growing up with six loud, snoring brothers probably cultured her to become a deep sleeper.

Ducking his head down close to hers he whispered, "Ginny?" He waited, breathing in the intoxicating flowery scent. When she didn't respond he nudged her a bit and tried again. "Ginny, time to get up."

"Five more minutes, Mum."

He couldn't help but chuckle at her response. At the sound of his laugh Ginny opened her eyes with the look of pure innocence and confusion that it only made him laugh even more. She blearily looked around at him and then to the Quidditch pitch then back at him. Then, quite suddenly she sat up with wide eyes and continued to blink at him. It took a couple seconds of staring at Harry for her to remember where she was and relax.

Smoothing out her hair, she said, "Sorry, Harry. I didn't mean to fall asleep on you."

"No need to apologize. You must have needed it, and I didn't mind at all. I was quite comfortable," he reassured her as he stood up and folded the blanket.

Ginny suddenly smirked at him, "I bet you were. Is that your game, Potter?" she asked, standing up. "Wait until the girl falls asleep and then you can cop a feel?"

Harry could only stare at her as if she had grown two extra heads.

"Fancy yourself a perv? Well, I'll tell you what, Harry," she said standing close to him. Before he could do or say anything, she grabbed his face with both hands and brought him down for a searing open-mouthed kiss. Confused or not, it did not take long for Harry to respond to it. This was what he had been waiting for all night. She tasted of chocolate and smelled of flowers. He had just wrapped his arms around her when she broke away from his mouth, pulling away so that she was mere millimeters away and could feel her breath against his. "The thing is, Harry," she whispered – she was so close that her lips brush up against his as she spoke, sending shivers down his spine – "you don't have to wait until I'm asleep." Ginny then reached down and gave his bottom a healthy squeeze, causing Harry to let out a very undignified squeak.

With that she pulled away and took out her wand. With one wink in Harry's direction she Disapparated with a CRACK, leaving him to figure out exactly what the hell had just happened.


	4. Chapter 4: Plans and Plants

"Why don't you just start at the beginning

"Why don't you just start at the beginning?" Susan suggested gently.

Ginny was once again in Susan's office, only this time she was pacing instead of panicking. It was easy to follow through with her plan when she was by herself with Harry, but actually finding the words to tell Susan what she had to do was harder than expected.

After opening and closing her mouth several times, Ginny dropped onto Susan's couch with a dramatic sigh.

"Alright, how about this," Susan said from her perch at the end of her desk. "I'll ask you questions about this mystery man of yours and you can nod or shake your head. Can you do that for me?"

Ginny shot her a withering look before saying, "I still have the ability to speak. The problem is finding the right words."

"I see. Then perhaps it's best that we stick to my method for now. Let's start small. Is he older than you?"

"Yes," Ginny replied, grateful that it wasn't difficult to answer. "A year older, to be precise."

"Okay, so that means he was in my year – he did go to Hogwarts, correct?"

"Again, yes. He was sorted into Gryffindor too," she said, anticipating Susan's next question.

"So you know him then?" she asked, but continued without waiting for a response. "Well, that narrows the possibilities considerably."

Susan's nose scrunched up like she often did when she was working out a problem or coming up with creative ways to organize the articles and ads for the magazine. "Gryffindor…there was Ron, but he's married now, not to mention he's your brother. Then there was Neville Longbottom, good at Herbology. Professor Sprout always spoke highly of him. And Dean, though you two dated briefly. I can't see Luna making you do that," Susan reasoned aloud. Ginny could feel herself sinking further into the couch as she watched Susan tick off each Gryffindor with her fingers. "Oh, there was that Irish boy, Seamus, I think. Yes, he dated Hannah for awhile. Tried flirting with me while they were going out, he did. Prat. That leaves Harry Potter. He was Ron's best friend and…."

Ginny sat sullenly as the look of dawning comprehension washed over Susan. Some colour left Susan's apple cheeks as she faced Ginny. It was now her friend's turn to start pacing. She was muttering to herself and Ginny only caught phrases.

"Luna couldn't…definitely _would_…complicates matters entirely…loony!" Turning to Ginny, Susan squared her shoulders and asked, "It's Harry, correct?"

Ginny opened her mouth to confirm her friend's question, and before she knew what happened she was confessing everything. She told her about how Harry was an honorary Weasley and seventh son to her parents. She voiced her fears about driving Harry away from the family after the end of all this and that he would hate her for what she did. Ginny even confessed the crush she had on Harry for half of her Hogwarts years. She told Susan about the last two nights, from how she made a fool of herself, flirting so outrageously before she even knew who it was, to how she avoided all his advances at the Quidditch game and then practically mauled him before leaving. _Did he think she was a slag? What about a tease?_

After convincing Ginny that Harry didn't think of her as either of those things, Susan said, "Ginny, I told you this yesterday – if you aren't comfortable with it, talk to Luna. However, that would require our boss showing up to work sometime this year. In the meantime, I think if we put our heads together we can figure out a way to do this article and keep your friendship with Harry. Unfortunately, I believe that this problem is bigger than the both of us."

Ginny hadn't expected that. One of the things she loved about Susan was her impossible optimism. Now she was saying this was more then Ginny was capable of handling. Was she that far in over her head? Rubbing the back of her neck to work out the kinks she asked, "If that's true, what the hell am I supposed to do?"

"Quite simple, really. Find the one person this isn't too big for."

"And who might that be?" Ginny asked warily. She didn't want to involve more people than absolutely necessary. The more people who knew, the more likely problems would occur.

"Only the smartest witch of our generation," Susan answered brightly.

"No. Oh no," Ginny squeaked, shaking her head. "No, no, no, no no! She's one of his best friends!"

"Then who better to help you with this?"

"No!" Ginny cried. "She'll tell me I'm a terrible person and never speak to me again!"

"Oh, stop being so melodramatic!" Susan's tone snapped Ginny out of her melancholy. Her friend never talked this way. "Do you want to sit here and moan about how terrible your life is, or do you want to do something about it? Maybe Hermione will tell you under no circumstances will she allow you to do this article. But maybe, just maybe, she might be able to figure out a way to fix this!"

Shocked into silence, Ginny could only gape at Susan. Taking this as submission, Susan knelt in front of her fireplace and threw a pinch of Floo powder in the grate. She stuck her head in after the flames turned emerald.

Ginny waited anxiously, twisting her hands in her lap as Susan's head remained in the fireplace, having a conversation she could not hear. It seemed like an eternity before Susan pulled her face away from the flames and stood up, brushing her robes free of ash and soot.

She commanded Ginny to stand up, and quickly expanded the small sofa so that it could comfortably fit three people.

"Well?" Ginny asked, when she could stand the silence anymore.

"Oh," Susan replied, her face too innocent to be genuine. "She should be here in a few minutes. Just had to tell her boss she was taking an earlier lunch. While we wait…" She trailed off and picked up a large basket Ginny had not noticed when she walked in.

Susan cleared off her desk with a wave of her wand and quickly began unloading the basket. The desk was soon covered in an array of corned beef and ham sandwiches, salad, sprouts, and jam doughnuts for desert. These were soon followed by a jug of pumpkin juice.

Seeing Ginny's gaze, Susan explained, "After you left yesterday, I gathered that you would need to talk today so I packed a lunch. Thank goodness I made extra, Hermione can have some too if she pleases."

Smelling the wonderful aroma of food, Ginny's stomach growled rather loudly. It hadn't occurred to her that she hadn't eaten a proper meal since she had dinner with Harry at The Leaky Cauldron. How had she gone so long without a decent meal? She was a Weasley. They lived to eat. _Merlin, look at what Harry is doing to me._

"Susan, have I ever told you what a great friend you are?" Ginny asked, pulling her into a quick hug before she all but lunged at the spread.

"Goodness, Ginny!" Susan's voice was light and teasing. "Is Mr. Potter not feeding you properly?"

"Harry?" a voice asked from behind. "What does Harry have to do with this?"

The two witches spun around in surprise to see Hermione standing in the doorway looking rather suspicious. Hermione looked back and forth between Susan, who was now looking quite embarrassed, and Ginny, who would not meet her eye.

Her gaze finally resting on Ginny, Hermione asked, "Does Harry have anything to do with why Susan asked me here?"

When Ginny didn't answer right away, Hermione's eyes narrowed, she had her hands on her hips, and her foot was tapping.

"H-he might," Ginny stuttered, nervous under Hermione's unwavering gaze.

"Ginny, just what is this about exactly? Susan was very vague earlier when she flooed me. The only thing she said was that you needed my advice."

"Hermione," Susan interrupted softly, now composed from her earlier embarrassment. "Why don't we sit down and have a bit of lunch while we talk? I know it's a bit early to eat, but I am not sure Ginny has had much in the way of food these past few days."

This effectively stopped Hermione's barrage of questions. Knowing Ginny as well as she did, she knew Ginny's loss of appetite was never a good thing. Although she had to physically bite her lip to keep from asking anything else, she nodded and walked over to the desk, picking up a plate and loading it with some of everything that was offered.

"Hermione." Ginny laughed nervously. "Are you pregnant? I've never seen you eat that much."

"I'm certainly _not _pregnant," Hermione replied, her voice was light but the thinness of her lips told Ginny that she was losing her patience. "I could never eat this much. It's for you, Ginny. You not eating or forgetting to eat are never good signs. I found it odd that you barely touched your lunch yesterday. I thought you must not have liked your meal, but apparently I was wrong."

Ginny accepted the plate with a nod and began to eat, prolonging the inevitable as long as possible. She didn't want to lose a friend, or a job, over this whole mess.

"Well, Hermione," Susan broke the silence, ignoring Ginny's glare. "We've obviously asked you here for a reason other than lunch, and yes," she raised her hand to halt Hermione's question, "it does involve Harry."

"I think it may be easier to show you," Susan continued, pulling a scroll from her desk drawer. Silently she passed it into Hermione's outstretched hand; Susan watched closely to see her reaction. Ginny, on the other hand, chose to stare at a fascinating scuff on her shoe.

Hermione's eyes flew across the scroll, reading the content quickly. It wasn't surprising how little time it took her to work everything out. With a slight gasp, Hermione dropped the scroll and it rolled across the floor unnoticed by any of them.

"You can't be…but it's preposterous!" she exclaimed. Hermione looked back and forth between the other two witches as when she first arrived, only this time her eyes were wide with shock and her mouth hung limply open. It might have been comical to see Hermione utterly speechless if Ginny wasn't so terrified.

"Ginny! Harry would _murder _you! Well, first you would actually have to start dating him–"

"She is," Susan cut in.

"What?!" Hermione's head whipped around so fast Ginny could hear it crack in a few places. "Are you serious?"

"Absolutely," Susan confirmed with a slight smile

"For how long?" Hermione demanded.

"They had two dates these past two nights."

"Did he kiss her?"

"I'm sitting right here, you know," Ginny snapped. She was annoyed that Susan was acting like she wasn't in the room and that Hermione found it so unfathomable that Harry could actually want to date her. However, when both women turned to stare at Ginny, she cursed herself for opening her mouth.

"Ginny, are you actually dating Harry?" Hermione asked intently.

"For all intents and purpose, I suppose you can say we are seeing each other," Ginny replied, sounding calmer than she felt at the moment.

"If you don't mind my asking," Hermione started tentatively, "how did you get him to go on a date with you?"

"For your information," Ginny retorted indignantly, _"he_ approached and asked me out."

After explaining quite thoroughly to Hermione how Luna encouraged Ginny to go out with Harry while single-handedly turning every other suitor away, Hermione asked, "And you're certain Harry asked you out on a date, not just to catch up?"

"At first I didn't know what to think," Ginny answered, glad to finally be able to talk about what she had been feeling. "My mind was too wrapped around what Luna could possibly have been thinking, but then he kept touching me. Rubbing my arm, my lower back, touching my hand when we were eating. Hermione, he tried to play footsie with me!"

The force of this knowledge seemed to push Hermione back in her seat. "Did he?" she asked, her eyes wide.

"Hermione," Ginny sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "As fascinating as you may find this, it's rather insulting when you continue to find Harry showing any type of interest in me utterly incomprehensible. It's doing wonders for my self-esteem."

"Oh, Ginny, you are an amazing person – not to mention quite attractive. You could have any wizard you want to," she dismissed with a wave. "I'm just surprised that Harry approached you, and I am trying to figure out why. So far I have two conclusions. Either he is thicker than Ron when it comes to girls and only _just_ realized how attractive you were, or that he has noticed for awhile and only recently worked up enough courage to do anything about it."

Susan coughed from her seat behind her desk, failing miserably to cover up her laughter. When she noticed the others watching she explained, "If you had seen Ginny's outfit the other night…it accentuated certain, ah, assets."

Ginny wished the floor would open up and swallow her whole. Is that why Harry had asked her out? She looked good in a dress? She felt herself blush to her roots.

"That might explain certain things," Hermione said, ignoring the scowl on Ginny's face. "Did he kiss you?" She was so serious in asking the question, Ginny was surprised Hermione wasn't getting out a quill and parchment to take notes.

Holding her head up high, she answered with all the dignity she could muster. "Quite thoroughly, if you must know."

"Well," Hermione said, Vanishing the plate she had conjured earlier. "Whatever the reason may be, we now have to think of ways to make his life utterly miserable."

"Do you mean you don't hate me? You're not planning on cursing me into the ground after calling me a scarlet woman?" Ginny asked.

Hermione, who was wiping her mouth with a napkin, let out an undignified snort before breaking into a coughing fit. After drinking the pumpkin juice Ginny had offered her, she said, "I'm sorry, Ginny. It's just that I haven't heard that term since Ron said it our fourth year."

"It's something Mum always says. I used to roll my eyes at such an old fashioned term. I can't believe I've started using it!" Ginny exclaimed, only slightly embarrassed. "Seriously though, you're not at all mad?"

Hermione studied her closely before speaking. She seemed to be analyzing Ginny and her motives. "Ginny, Luna should never have put you in such a position. Not only does she have you toying with another individual's emotions, she has you doing it to a close family friend, as well as a public figure. However, that doesn't mean that you are at fault. We must all deal with situations life throws at us, and in your case, life has thrown this at you.

"Firstly, I think you should ask Luna not to do the article once more. This is most likely a moot point, but it is worth a shot. If she says no, insist on two things. Do not add your byline in the article and have Harry remain anonymous as well. If there is one thing Harry hates more than the Death Eaters rotting away in prison, it's nosy reporters butting into his life. Promise me, Ginny. You must remain adamant about this."

"Absolutely," Ginny quickly agreed. In the midst of everything she was worried about, she had yet to think of the repercussions if she wrote about how she dated and drove away the famous Harry Potter. She felt lower than dirt. All she was worried about was how this would affect her relationship with Harry. She hadn't begun to consider what this would do to his life. "I hadn't thought about that," she admitted, "but I'm sure Luna won't have a problem with it. Her goal for this article is to help out witches everywhere. I can always argue that by using our names it will only serve to narrow down the field of readers that will be able to relate."

Hermione nodded approvingly, but Ginny still couldn't help but ask again, "Hermione, why are you helping me with this?"

Before she spoke, Hermione shared a look with Susan that Ginny couldn't understand. When she looked at Ginny a dangerous smile played across her face, "I think it's about time for Harry's wake up call, and you…this is exactly what he needs. He's been going out with these…these…utter little twits!"

"You have no idea what I've gone through," she continued mournfully. "Harry would bring his dates over for dinner every once and awhile. You should have seen me try to engage them in conversations. I honestly believe all they knew how to do was laugh. And it was that annoying little laugh that clearly said they didn't understand a wink of what I just said! One of them called me Helen and insisted on doing my hair!"

Ginny shook her head and wondered what Harry saw in any of those girls. Hermione was right. Harry needed to get his life on track. Apparently the Fates had decided she was the one to give him the kick on the bum that he so desperately needed. "So, why me?" she implored. "And why now? I keep asking myself this over and over, and all I do is talk in circles."

"Maybe that's not important," Susan ventured. "Sometimes we never know why things happen, we just have to accept them and respond accordingly. How do you think you would have reacted if Harry came up to you the other night without this assignment looming over your head?"

Ginny pondered the possibility. What would she have done? "I probably still would have gone out with him. We left under the pretences of catching up. I don't see Harry very often so it's plausible, although I would have been suspicious. He's never actively sought out my company.

"As for the rest," Ginny continued with a laugh, "I would have asked if he was flirting with me, because never in my wildest dreams would I expect him to actually do it. Merlin's beard, what would he have said if I asked that? Either that or I would have flirted back sooner to see his reaction. I was too preoccupied with what I had to do, than to actually _do _it."

"So if you didn't have to write this article, you would have been open to the possibility of dating Harry?" Hermione asked carefully.

Would she have? She would have done anything back in school to have gone out with him, but what about now? "I honestly don't know."

"Have you enjoyed going out with Harry these past two days?" Susan pried.

Ginny started, playing with a strand of hair. She let her mind wander to the past two days they spent together. He was incredibly sweet, if a bit cocky at times. He's fun to tease and they got along great. Not to mention he's a fantastic kisser….She remembered her panic when she was at his flat. She felt a lump rise in her throat. Taking a shuddering breath, she answered, "I don't think I can do this. I freaked out the first time he kissed me. Everything was fine, but then I started to panic. It was so bad I had to leave."

"Ginny," Hermione leaned forward in her seat, "what were you thinking before you started to panic?"

"I…I guess how good of a person Harry was. And how…how much I was enjoying myself. It was different, you know? I've kissed a fair share of blokes, but I've never felt that, like it was somehow right. I didn't want it to stop. Then, everything was so overwhelming, my thoughts and Harry's actions. I had to leave."

She didn't miss the look Hermione and Susan exchanged, but she refused to acknowledge them.

When Hermione spoke, her voice was soft but quite firm. "Whether you like it or not, Luna's put you in this position and as far as Harry's concerned, you and he are dating. Why don't you just spend time with Harry and see what happens? The assignment is about getting out of a relationship, and that requires being in one to begin with. Have some fun with Harry, play a few innocent pranks and enjoy yourself."

"You're right," Ginny conceded. It felt like her emotions were on a wild broom ride with plummeting dives, soaring arches, and quick turns and flips, never stopping to fly at a leisurely pace. "Please forgive me. I don't know which way is up anymore."

"It's quite alright," Hermione insisted, patting Ginny's hand. "Why don't you tell me how the last two nights went so we can decide where to go from there?"

For the second time that day, Ginny retold the story beginning when Luna first approached her about the article and ending with the kiss she left Harry with the night before. It took a decidedly longer time to tell it, as Hermione interrupted frequently to ask questions. It felt great to talk to Susan and Hermione about what she was feeling. It was as if the hippogriff she was carrying on her shoulders had finally taken off. She hadn't felt this light in days. Their acceptance about what she had to do meant more to her than words could say.

She smiled at Hermione, who was still laughing about how Ginny had kissed him and had then run off. She always prided herself on being a good story teller, and Hermione and Susan were the perfect audience, laughing at the right spots and gasping at others.

Wiping a tear from her eye, Hermione said, "Oh, Ginny that was perfect. I can just picture him standing there staring like he got hit with a stupid stick. But I have to ask, why did you kiss him? It seemed like you avoided every other opportunity that presented itself."

Ginny toyed with a strand of hair. Hermione always seemed to ask the hardest questions. "Honestly? After what happened the last time we kissed I was a bit afraid for that to happen again. When I woke up I felt so warm and safe, and then I looked up and saw Harry staring back at me. It took a moment for me to realize where I was, and then I just thought 'What the hell' and did it."

"So it wasn't a part of your plan to run him off?"

Ginny shrugged. She hadn't thought about it like that. "I sorta acted on my instincts at that point."

"That's good, Ginny. Really good," Hermione nodded. "Just keep doing that for now."

She got out a clean piece of parchment and poised her quill above it. "How long do we have?"

"Our next issue comes out two weeks from Sunday," Susan said, pointing to the calendar on her wall. Sure enough, one of the Sundays was circled with red ink, DEADLINE written inside it.

"Right," Hermione nodded before scribbling something down. Ginny leaned forward and read the parchment, _Losing a Wizard in Two Weeks. _

She grinned a bit evilly at Susan and Ginny, "Harry's not going to know what hit him."

"And then she winks at me and grabs my bum! Before I knew what happened she was gone!" Harry cried, staring at Neville with wide eyes.

Neville shook his head and continued walking down one of the rows in his greenhouse. It was something his Gran had built for him when she saw how he excelled at Herbology. She might have been a severe woman, but she knew Neville's strong points and took care to let him learn more about it and grow. She had passed shortly after the Second War ended, and Neville inherited the estate. He had built three more greenhouses and made a healthy living selling different plants to apothecaries and florists.

Harry had sent Neville a note late at night asking him if he could stop by today to talk. He knew it was short notice, but he needed to talk to someone. He had never met anyone like Ginny Weasley before. Once, he thought he had finally figured her out, and then she would do something completely unexpected, putting him right back at square one.

Neville wouldn't have been the first person he would have gone to for advice, but he knew Neville would never judge or laugh at him. He was a great listener, Harry realized. A good friend too. Throughout most of his story, Neville listened earnestly, asking all the appropriate questions. What did you do then? and iShe did what?!

"You were friends with her at Hogwarts, weren't you, Neville?" Harry followed as Neville expertly wove his way around the wide array of plants. "Maybe you understand her a bit better."

"I'm not sure what to say," his friend called over his shoulder. "Ginny was…is…an amazing person. I've never known her to toy with others' emotions. She was always so straight-forward." He shook his head with laughter. "I remember when she asked Dean out."

"Wait," Harry interrupted. "Ginny asked _Dean_ out? He didn't do it?"

Neville chuckled. "She never was one to do what was expected. Dean had liked her for a month or so, but she was dating someone else–"

"Michael Corner," Harry answered automatically.

Neville looked at him curiously, but continued with his story. "Apparently Dean wasn't too subtle about fancying her. She cornered him in the hallway outside of the Charms classroom. He was shocked beyond words. You should have seen him. Couldn't string a sentence together for the life of him. Ginny, however, was as calm as ever. She looked him straight in the eye and asked if he wanted to go to Hogsmeade with her."

"So, she's not old-fashioned then…" Harry mused.

"Gran used to say that all girls were old-fashioned, but they just liked to act modern."

Harry stared at Neville's smiling face for a few moments. When he offered nothing else, Harry asked, "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"You know," Neville continued tracing patterns in the dirt with his shoe. "Girls may have sex before marriage and all that, but they still want all the old-fashioned things. Flowers, chocolates…err…other sentimental things."

Harry's eyes sparked. That's exactly what he had to do. He had to woo Ginny Weasley. Looking around the greenhouse, his eyes rested on a group of small, white, star shaped flowers. "Neville," Harry asked, "What type of flowers are these?"

"Alright, we now have three categories: Emotional, Magical, and Physical," stated Hermione, as she skimmed the parchment she was writing on. "I also created a chart so that we could cross list the things that qualified in two or more of the categories. Are you sure we don't need another subdivision?"

Ginny bit the end of her quill, thinking. They had been working on this for over an hour. Hermione had Floo'ed back to her office and informed her boss that she would be out for the rest of the afternoon. This wasn't much of a problem, seeing as Hermione was always working extra hours. Together they had decided to interview other witches to get their feedback. For now, they were going to stick just to family and close friends and branch out from there. Asking simple questions like 'What do you and your significant other (or ex) fight about most?' and 'Is there anything that you do that particularly bothers your husband/boyfriend?"

They already had several ideas jotted down about what might work. Hermione had placed them in different intensity levels: Bothersome, Irritating, Maddening, Ghastly, Dangerous, and Foolproof.

Bothersome and Irritating were easy to add to and fell under all three categories (emotional, physical, and magical). According to Hermione, Ginny had already done all three the night before. Her shoddy spell work was placed under "Magical-Irritating" while spilling the drinks qualified as "Physical-Bothersome", although depending on how hot the drinks were it could be considered "Physical-Dangerous". As for Emotional, Ginny had done several things. Toying with Harry's mind landed under Irritating, borderline Maddening, while making Harry get drinks she didn't want only landed a Bothersome.

Now, with a system and Hermione's help, she could systematically increase her level of cruelty and document the results (which there were columns for).

They were just discussing ideas for Dangerous and Foolproof when there was a knock at the door. Susan quickly released the silencing and locking charms and Ginny went to answer it.

"Neville!" Ginny exclaimed, blocking the doorway. She heard Susan and Hermione scramble to collect the parchment that was strewn across the desk. "What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you, actually," Neville answered with a smile.

Ginny stole a glance behind her to see a smiling Susan and a red-faced Hermione, but the desk was clear. Stepping aside, she invited Neville into the cosy office. "What can I do for you?"

"Um, I'm here to give you these." He fumbled briefly with the flower pot in his hands, giving it to her a moment later. Ginny was overwhelmed with how much it weighed, but hid her surprise and placed it on a filing cabinet with a soft thud. She stepped back and took an admiring look at them. The plant was full and healthy with green leaves and think stems. The flower was ivory white with a very nice full shape and substance on a very tall upright spike. The petals twinkled merrily like stars in the night sky.

"Thank you, Neville. They're beautiful!"

"Oh they're not from me," Neville corrected. "Harry asked me to send them over. Where'd I put that note?"

The three women waited as Neville searched the pockets of his slightly dirty, brown robes. It looked like he had come straight from his garden.

"Ah, here we are!" he exclaimed, handing a small envelope to Ginny. "I reckon they're nice enough. I tried to convince Harry on choosing a new type of Tulip I just received from Peru last week. Gorgeous. They change colours fading from yellow to pink and then white, but Harry insisted on these."

"What are they?" Ginny inquired, brushing her fingers across the petals.

"Sleeping Beauties."

Ginny whirled toward him, wondering if she heard correctly. Neville nodded with a small smile, "He said you would understand."

"Yes, well." She cleared her throat uncomfortably. "How did you know to find me here? This isn't my office."

"I wasn't sure where to look at all when I arrived, actually," Neville admitted. "I asked that young chap on the main floor, David, I think. He told me I could find you here. Seemed a bit concerned that you've been tucked away all day."

Susan masked a laugh with a cough, while Ginny raised her eyes to the heavens and shook her head. David Driscoll had worked at _The Quibbler_ over the summer holidays for the past two years before returning to Hogwarts. He was about to enter his last year of school and was quite besotted with Ginny.

"Neville, why don't you help me bring these flowers to my office. This way you can find the perfect spot for it."

"What do you think you are doing?!" Susan hissed.

"What are you talking about?"

"I asked you over here to talk Ginny out of this insane plot, not help her!" Susan eyes were wide and her breaths were uneven, and when looking close enough, Hermione could see a small vein in the side of her neck pulsing.

"Those two are perfect for each other," she replied evenly.

"You don't think I know that?" Susan dropped back into her chair, burying her face in her hands. "It's taken them forever to get together, and now it's going to be ruined!"

"Ginny is the most stubborn person I know," Hermione started to explain.

"You can say that again."

"And she had that awful crush on him for all those years. It did nothing for her self esteem." She was glad to see that Susan was paying attention now, instead of panicking.

"I didn't really know Ginny until we joined the DA. She was dating Michael by then."

Hermione nodded. "I suggested to her the year before that she consider dating other boys. Looking back that was the best and worst advice I ever gave. Once she started dating other boys, she refused to look back on her feelings for Harry. I think she was trying to convince herself as much as everyone else that she was over him."

"So she hasn't admitted to liking Harry since, what, her third year?"

"Yes. On the bright side, Harry was able to see what an amazing person she is."

"So why didn't he make his move back then?" Susan leaned forward, thoroughly immersed in the story.

"That might be partly my fault. I sort of said that she had given up on him, and that she had started dating other boys."

"You didn't!" Susan gasped. "They could have been together for years! Married with babies by now."

Hermione shook her head. "Ron backed me into a corner, I had to answer. What would have been better, saying that or telling them that even though she was dating someone else she still liked Harry?"

Susan deflated "You said it was partly your fault. What's the other part to it?"

"Harry." Hermione shook her head in exasperation. "I can usually read him like a book, but it took me ages to figure out what he felt for Ginny."

"How so?"

Hermione chuckled, remembering her sixth year. "If Ginny is the most stubborn person I know, then Harry is the thickest, including Ron. He loves her. I know he does. Even if he won't admit it to me.

She slowed down to gather her thoughts. "Harry has always been…aware of Ginny. It was kind of hard not to at first. She would blush and squeak and drop things in front of him. But then, after she started dating, she opened up around him, started talking. Well, I should say, started yelling. That year with Umbridge was terrible for Harry. He was sullen and bit off all our heads. But Ginny was the only one who yelled back. And he listened when she did."

"He respected her. They've been through things that no one else could relate to." Hermione laughed. "You could even say they had to suffer through the beginning of my relationship with Ron, later."

"He didn't date anyone at school, besides going out on a disastrous date with Cho Chang."

"Oh, I heard about that," Susan laughed. "Hannah was in Madam Puddifoot's that day. She made an awful scene."

"Yes, well, after that he didn't go on a date until after the war." Hermione decided not to get into the whole 'Cho debacle'. "Before the fall of Voldemort he had this terrible nobility streak. It was as if he denied himself any sort of happiness, because he felt he didn't deserve it.

"We were all waiting for the two of them to get together. It looked like it was actually going to happen the summer after fifth year. The events of that year brought all of us closer together, but we would catch them talking and laughing – most likely about Ron and myself, I expect – or playing a game of chess."

"But what happened? They obviously didn't get together."

Hermione sighed. "It was progressing beautifully! Better than we could have asked, but then it just stalled. We got back to Hogwarts, and Ginny was with Dean. And Harry. Well Harry was back with his burdens. Then everything just…fell apart. He was so wrapped up in the war; I don't think he allowed himself to picture Ginny, or any other girl for that matter, as more than a friend.

"But that didn't stop him from noticing her, which isn't hard to do!" Hermione laughed. "You went to school with her. After fifth year, she just grew prettier with each passing day. How could he not notice?"

The two women laughed together. Ginny, even if she wasn't aware of it, caught the eye of almost all the boys at Hogwarts her fifth and sixth years. "And Harry hated it, hated the boys she dated. According to him they were all nancy boys and wankers. He was all too eager to join Ron in what I dubbed 'boyfriend bashing sessions'."

"Alright. So now we know that they are both madly in love with each other but won't admit it to themselves let alone each other. How does this little story explain why you are helping Ginny sabotage her own happiness?" Susan asked.

"You saw how Ginny reacted before when asked if she would date Harry. She's in denial. To her admitting her feelings would be admitting that she was weak, and that she was still a ten year old girl hero worshipping The-Boy-Who-Lived." Hermione explained,

"This is true," Susan slumped in her seat. "But how will this help her?"

Hermione leaned closer with a slight gleam in her eyes. "I said Ginny is the most stubborn person I know. Harry's comes in a close second. I don't know what caused him to finally ask her out, but a few pranks won't scare him off that easily."

A slow smile grew on Susan's face. "He won't scare off," she repeated to herself.

"Ginny's in for the fight of her life, and her heart."

"Hey, what's that?" Neville asked as they re-entered Susan's office.

Ginny's heart leapt into her throat. As a joke, Susan had conjured a count down by the minute until midnight on the 1st, the day before _The Quibbler's_ next issue, and consequently, how many days she had to get rid of Harry. The numbers flashed in an obnoxious shade of pink.

"Oh, that's just our deadline for next month's issue," Susan replied, standing up from her spot behind the desk. "Luna's idea." With a wave of her wand, it disappeared.

For the first time, Neville noticed the other women in the room. Well, he noticed Susan. "Er, hello," he greeted shyly, extending his hand. "You look very familiar."

"Susan Bones," she answered, taking his hand. "I remember you, Neville Longbottom. Professor Sprout always had a soft spot for you."

"Oh, well…I like plants – that is, I mean, Herbology was my favourite subject. As you can see," he waved his hand, knocking over a picture frame, " – sorry – it's what I do all the time now. I – I mean for a living. My job. I grow plants."

"I can see," she agreed with a slight smile. "You seem to be doing quite well for yourself, Neville. You look great."

Hermione and Ginny exchanged smiles as Neville's neck turned a magnificent shade of scarlet. It was true. Neville had done a lot of growing up since leaving Hogwarts. All the manual labour in his greenhouses helped him finally shed his thin layer of baby fat, leaving a trim frame. The time spent outside also gave him a healthy tan. Coupled with his open face and genuine smile, he fully qualified as handsome. Still, as he was showing now, traces of the old Neville remained. He became hopelessly clumsy when talking to women, not to mention shy. Luckily, Susan seemed to find him very endearing.

"Neville," Ginny interrupted. By the way Neville and Susan jumped at the intrusion, they had forgotten anyone else was in the room. "I was thinking about doing a story about the best greenhouses in England. Would you mind if I stopped by this afternoon? You could show Susan and I around if you have time."

"Of course!" he agreed, his eyes lighting up. "I just got a whole mass of shipments in," he turned back to Susan. "You have to see them. I remember Professor Sprout talking about them…"

As they continued talking about breeds of plants Ginny had never heard of before, Hermione slipped next to Ginny

"What do you have planned?" she hissed.

"Two things," Ginny whispered back, still watching Neville and Susan's enthusiastic conversation. "I thought I'd help Neville along here. They are just too adorable together for words, and while I am there I might be able to plan something of my own."

"Like what?"

"Let's just say I have a feeling it will fall under Magical-Ghastly and possibly cross listed with Physical-Dangerous."


	5. Chapter 5: Memories and Missing Mementos

Ginny lagged behind Neville and Susan as they walked side by side through one of Neville's greenhouses

Ginny lagged behind Neville and Susan as they walked side by side through one of Neville's greenhouses. She enjoyed watching them interact. Keeping her distance allowed the two to talk and get to know each other better. With a nudge in the right direction, Ginny was sure they could make each other very happy. The problem was that she was also certain they would need rather large nudges for anything to happen. Despite Susan's unusual display of forcefulness yesterday, she was mild-mannered and soft spoken. Combine that with Neville's extreme shyness and low self-esteem, Ginny was sure that the Cannons would win the World Cup before they made any progress.

If Ginny was completely honest with herself, another reason she didn't keep up with them was her lack of interest in Herbology. She soon lost track of their conversations about the latest news in the field and new hybrids Neville was experimenting with. Susan, however, was quite taken with the subject. She never knew her friend had taken such an interest in flora. It was true that Professor Sprout was her Head of House at Hogwarts, but on the same Knut, McGonagall was Ginny's and she'd rather be called a Slytherin before saying Transfiguration was her favourite subject.

Deciding that Susan and Neville were doing just fine on their own, she turned down a random aisle of plants and away from her friends. As she wandered down each aisle searching for a plant for Harry, Ginny became increasingly discouraged. Nothing seemed right for him. There were plants to cure physical illness, magical or otherwise. There were plants that while nice to look at, didn't seem to have any purpose besides being decorative. There were poisonous plants, but Ginny wanted to make Harry's life miserable, not kill him.

She fingered the leaf of a random plant. It looked like normal ivy, but something about it intrigued her. At her touch, the plant shivered and gently wrapped one of its vines around her index finger. With a smile, Ginny glanced at the tag to see the name of it. _Premo acanthus._ Well, that didn't help much.

Ginny glanced around. When she spotted a worker carrying a tray of plants down an aisle near her, she extracted her finger from the vine.

"Excuse me, Sir!" Ginny approached the worker. He was tall. Taller than Ron even. Like the rest of Neville's employees, he opted to forgo wizard robes and was wearing a white Muggle shirt and grass stained overalls. She was just admiring his well defined shoulders (which were probably due to carrying flower trays all day) when he turned around. To her disappointment, he appeared to be a few years younger than Ginny, most likely fresh out of Hogwarts.

When he saw Ginny, however, dissatisfaction was not one of the expressions that crossed his face. Quickly, he placed the tray on the ground before wiping his hands on a rag he kept tucked in his back pocket. "Good day, miss." He extended his hand with a charming smile. "Devon MacAvoy."

"Ginny Weasley." She shook his hand. "I was wondering if you could tell me about a plant."

"Absolutely," he agreed, deftly stepping over the tray he placed in the middle of the walkway. Ginny led him back to the ivy she noticed earlier.

"The Snuggle Plant?" Devon laughed. "Trust me, you don't want this one."

"Why not?" she asked, examining the plant with interest.

"It's a bloody nuisance. It feeds off of affection, as well as water and sunlight. Half my day is wasted by this plant."

Ginny hid a smile and adopted a look of pure interest. "What happens if no one gives it any affection?"

"It will die," he said while shaking his head. "There are rumours about nasty side effects when it receives _too much _attention. They have been said to become _very_ attached."

Ginny felt like dancing inside. This was perfect. "Attached?" She feigned ignorance. "What's wrong with that?"

"Er, they are very affectionate by nature." He demonstrated for her by brushing his hand against the leaves. Once again, The Snuggle Plant wrapped itself around his fingers. "Some wizards have reported that if they become too attached they won't want to let go. I've never seen it happen, but I keep my distance as much as I can."

"It's such a beautiful plant. It's a shame it's not for sale." Ginny bit her lip and batted her eyes a few times. This look never failed on her father or brothers.

"Well, uhh." Devon scratched his head uncomfortably. "I'm sure I could work something out. It's been my little project, so no one else will really miss it."

"Thank you so much, Devon." She smiled brightly and rested her hand on top of his. To her amusement, his cheeks tinted pink and his speech became flustered.

"Oh – uh – it's – uh – no problem. None at all. Yeah. So…right. I'll just get this ready for you. You're, ah, sure you want this?"

"Oh yes." Her voice was serious. "I have a few nieces and nephews. I think it will be a great way to learn responsibility."

It only took a few minutes for Devon to extract The Snuggle Plant from the earth. Ginny had to hide her amusement when she heard him explaining that it was going to stay with the "pretty lady" and her family, not because he didn't want it anymore but that the "pretty lady" wanted it so much and that she would take great care of it.

He shrugged sheepishly when he saw her watching him. "I thought it might help it transition. The last thing we need is for it to get pouty and homesick."

Gently, Ginny picked up the box containing the new plant and bid goodbye to Devon after promising to come back to see him if she was having difficulty with the plant. She found Susan and Neville standing close together, deep in discussion over something.

"Hey, you two," Ginny said from across the worktable so she could hide her latest acquisition. They were startled by her reappearance. "Been keeping busy?"

"Er, I was just explaining to Susan the process of…"

"That's alright, Neville. It would probably go over my head anyway. I just stopped by to tell you two that I'm about to leave. I wanted to say goodbye."

Ginny noted that neither seemed too disappointed with her that she would be leaving. Susan sent her a small smile over the table, which she returned.

"So, do you have everything you need?"

"Neville, I found exactly what I was looking for. Now why don't you two get back to the conversation I interrupted?"

The three friends exchanged goodbyes and Ginny made a hasty exit. When she reached the end of the greenhouse she glanced behind her. Susan and Neville were already absorbed in each other and Susan's hand was resting on Neville's. Maybe they wouldn't need her help after all.

She also saw Devon watching her with a smile. Lifting up her hand that was holding The Snuggle Plant she gave him a half-wave and a grateful smile.

Ginny waited until she was a few meters away from the building before giving in and guffawing. Unfortunately, she had to calm down to Apparate. She needed to send Harry an owl; they were having dinner tonight.

The plant safely placed on her dining room table, where it was sure to receive plenty of light, Ginny moved about her flat to get ready.

Giving a half hearted search around her flat, she decided that Amadeus wasn't there. The absence of her sometimes moody owl gave her the excuse to prolong having to write the letter to Harry and chose instead to pick up around her flat.

As she worked through her flat, scrubbing surfaces by hand at a furious rate, she couldn't ignore the innocent looking ivy plant sunbathing near by. A cloud momentarily blocked the sun and the plant shifted its vines in search for the warmth.

Everything seemed so clear when she was with Susan and Hermione. Harry had stalled in his life, caught in an unhealthy trend of serial dating witches that were completely wrong for him. If Hermione was correct, and she usually was, Ginny could be the final push he needed to get his life back on track.

But now she was alone with her thoughts. The doubts crept quietly out of the shadows and into her mind. Hermione had been so sure that this not only would work, but it was the right thing to do. She wasn't just brilliant, she was one of Harry's best friends. She wouldn't do anything to hurt him.

She scrubbed harder on the small island in the kitchen, removing the dirt she couldn't see. The scowl growing on her face went unnoticed.

Obviously, Hermione's knowledge – of both books and her friend – was enough to tell her that whatever Ginny could do wouldn't cause Harry any grief. No, hurt only comes when you care deeply for a person. It was clear now that she wasn't a person that could hurt Harry.

No, she was just a pawn on Hermione's chess board, a willing sacrifice to get Harry's life back on track.

Ginny collapsed against the counter, burying her head in her arms. She ignored the burning scent of cleaning supplies. The sponge she had been using had ripped apart from the fervor of cleaning.

Hermione wasn't the only player in this game. Harry had made his move, too. Her questions from earlier that day haunted her. _Why me? And why now?_ Susan had said it didn't matter, but now Ginny was disagreeing.

Was she, as Susan suggested, just a pretty witch in a revealing dress? Or was she like the others Hermione describe, a convenient distraction? Unwillingly, Hermione's other theory crept into her memory. i"Or he has noticed for awhile and only recently worked up enough courage to do anything about it." /i

Could that be possible? Could Harry finally noticing be her after all this time? Why not at Hogwarts?

Ginny's eyes darkened. No. he made it perfectly clear he wasn't interested in her at school.

_Ginny lounged on a comfortable sofa, her charms book laid forgotten in her lap. The Gryffindor Common Room was quiet, most students concentrating on finishing the last of their assignments before carting off to bed. She toyed with a lock of her hair, never noticing any of the extra looks the boys threw her way. _

"_Hey Ginny. How's studying going?" Harry had been talking to her more lately. Something she found pleasantly surprising. _

"_Oh don't remind me!" She put her hand to her forehead in mock despair. He just laughed and nudged her feet out of the way so he could sit next to her._

_He didn't offer anything more to say, so she picked up her book again and absently flipped through the pages. Eventually the silence became overwhelming and she could feel the weight of his gaze on her. Knowing no more schoolwork would get done that night, she closed her book and faced Harry. _

"_Something on your mind," she asked with an arched eyebrow. _

_He hesitated, glancing around the Common Room. Then ever so slowly he gracefully moved closer to her, his face sincere. "Can I ask you a question?" _

"_Anything," she replied, slightly breathless from the intense look in his eyes. _

"_When you went out with Michael Corner…that is…what did you feel, I mean, this is coming out wrong. How did _you _know you wanted to date him, or Dean for that matter. _

_Slightly surprised by the topic, Ginny paused to consider her answer. As he waited, patience as ever, he casually played with a lock of her hair. "I'm not quite sure how to answer that," she said truthfully. "It was different both times. I didn't know the same way or time with them. I think everything has its own timeline. Every relationship is unique." She glanced up at him and was startled to see how close he was. _

"_So it depends on the person," he said mostly to himself. "There's no specific thing to be done? Not just any bloke can come up to you with the best Honeydukes chocolate?" he asked, playfully tugging on the lock of hair he was still playing with. _

"_Of course not!" she resisted the urge to roll her eyes, settling for sticking out her tongue. "It's all about the connection you have to someone. And it has to be the right time. That's important." _

_He grinned and tucked the stray lock behind her ear. She playfully tried to bat it away, but he caught her hand in is. Her heart pounded in her chest. It was painfully loud. She was sure Harry could hear it. _

"_Thanks," his smile was soft, but there was more behind his eyes. _

_Before she could respond, the portrait hole opened and Hermione bustled through. Harry had dropped her hand and moved away before Hermione even saw where they were sitting. _

"_There you are Harry! Why didn't you make it to the library?" _

_Ginny heard Harry mumble something about bad timing but rose to his feet and grabbed some of his books and joined Hermione at her table. _

_Not to long after Harry left the spot next to her, the portrait hole swung open again to reveal a red faced Ron. Instead of making his way to his two friends, like Ginny had expected, he marched over to her. _

"_I've been looking for you." _

"_Me? What did I do?" _

"_Nothing besides being the reason I had to punch Finch-Fletchley in the nose."_

_Ginny gasped in horror. "Ron, you didn't! Why?" _

"_I heard him talking about how you agreed to go with him to Hogsmeade. You shouldn't go; he wasn't saying nice things about you."_

"_I never said I'd go with him!" she exclaimed in defence. He's asked several times but I always avoid answering him. Don't get mad at me!" _

"_Yeah, well," he grumbled. "Maybe you're still too young to date."_

_They continued arguing, oblivious to a silent observer one table over. _

_Two days later, Harry took Morag MacDougal to Hogsmeade._

Ginny furiously swiped away the tears that escaped her eyes. How silly she was. Getting upset over a memory. But it was clear. Clearer than most memories from that year. Oh how she had hoped that Harry had felt something. She remembered how she couldn't fall asleep that night, wondering what would have happened if Hermione hadn't shown up, how she stayed up late fantasizing about Harry asking her to Hogsmeade instead of Justin.

But he hadn't, she reminded herself. He was asking her advice about another girl. How stupid she was back then, thinking he had feelings for her!

She stood up and threw away the remains of the shredded sponge. She'd do what Hermione asked of her, because she was a good friend. Harry might not want her, but she'd do anything she could to make sure he was happy. That's what friends are for, right?

"HERMIONE!!" bellowed a voice from down the hall.

Hermione sighed and placed the book she was reading on the side table. Walking back to her bedroom, she called, "Coming!"

When she entered the room, she was greeted by the sight of her husband's bum sticking up in the air while the rest of him was under their bed. "Ron, what are you doing?"

"Looking for my Cannons shirt," was his muffled reply.

Hermione knew the shirt he was asking about. Ginny had had it for a few weeks now and she heard about its current condition earlier today. But she couldn't let him know that. "Could you be a bit more specific? I believe you own over a dozen Chudley Cannons shirts."

He crawled out from underneath the bed and Hermione wanted to laugh. His hair could rival Harry's and the front of his clothes was covered in dust. "The one I had since my 7th year. You know which one I am talking about. It has the hole near the bottom."

"It's probably in the wash," she dismissed. "Just wear one of your other ones."

"It can't be in the wash. It's been missing for a few weeks," he said, following her into the kitchen of their flat.

"Oh, does it really matter?" Hermione sighed. She hoped Ron would let it drop. Finding the shirt in his sister's possession would not only get him upset about the Tornados badge, but cause unwanted problems for Ginny. She had promised her sister-in-law only a few hours ago that she would keep her relationship with Harry a secret from Ron for as long as possible. "You have so many and if you really need another one, can't you just buy it?"

"I really need to find it. It was the shirt I was wearing when they played the Arrows and won! They're playing the Arrows again tomorrow and I need to wear it! You know my system!"

She pursed her lips. Indeed, she knew his system well. In fact, it was more detailed then the way she catalogued her books. He had shirts for home games, away games, games against teams who were leading the league, and shirts for games against teams he hated. She tried to keep up with how he decided to wear each shirt, but in the end disinterest had won out.

"The last time I wore the shirt was a week before the wedding. I remember because it was the day before Ginny was over and… Ginny!" he ended with a cry and bolted back to the bedroom. Hermione listened as sounds of drawers being slammed travelled to where she sat at the kitchen table.

"Aha!" Ron exclaimed as he stomped back into the kitchen. "I knew it! I knew it, Hermione!" he said as he shook a fist full of socks in her face.

"Knew what?" she said, swatting away his hand.

"Ginny took it."

"And these socks are what? Evidence of her theft? I think your Auror skills are a bit shabby."

"No, that is not my only evidence." He pulled playfully on one of her curls. "My favourite socks are missing. And if I remember correctly, they've been gone for about as long as my shirt has been. Knowing Ginny's tendency for stealing my clothing – especially socks – I think it's safe to guess she's the culprit. Or at least the prime suspect."

"Ron, you know how I like it when you talk in your best official Auror voice." She moved closer to him and stood on her toes. She kissed the closest thing she could reach which happened to be his neck. It was one the drawbacks of having such a tall husband. It made a simple peck on the lips quite a production. She had hoped to get into the new book she picked up, but Ron needed to get his mind off certain things. They had both been busy this week and didn't have much time for each other. Maybe if she could distract him enough…

"Well, it would be pathetic if I was in love with the smartest witch I know, and not be able to piece together a minor mystery," he chuckled. Ron gathered her in his arms. He hugged her tight, lifting her off the ground by a foot.

When he placed her back down, he let go of her and began searching for his wand in his robe.

"Why don't I send Ginny an owl to ask her if she has your shirt? That way she can wash it and bring it back, if she does have it."

"No way." Ron snorted. "That will just give her fair warning to hide it. I know my sister. Growing up, Ginny took all of our shirts and socks. As far as she was concerned, what was ours was hers." He grabbed Hermione's hand and dragged her over to one of the bookshelves that contained photo albums.

"Here," Ron said, opening up to a random page. He pointed to Ginny who was clothed in tattered jeans and a shirt with a dragon on the front. "See the shirt she's wearing? That was Charlie's favourite shirt growing up. She nicked it from him when they visited Romania my first year. And this," Ron flipped the page to where Ginny had on an old sweater with a 'G' embroidered on the front, "That was George's shirt. I remember when Mum gave it to him in his fifth year. Ginny stole it two years later. She still maintains that it's hers to this day, but every one knows Mum made blue shirts for George and yellow for Ginny."

Ron returned the album to its proper place. Hermione's mind was working hard. Ron mustn't go to Ginny's. When Hermione had left Susan's office, Ginny still wasn't certain on her plans with Harry that night, but she planned to owl him after visiting Neville's greenhouses to make plans. Unfortunately, this left Hermione not knowing if Harry would be over Ginny's flat or not. Ron's presence could be disastrous.

She and Ginny spoke about the possibility of using "The Protective Old Brother" bit to her advantage. Ginny decided she would use it only as a last resort. The less her brothers knew, the better.

Ron, however, seemed insistent on visiting his only sister that night. He had finally located his wand in between the cushions on the sofa. He was about to Apparate.

"Ron! I don' think–"

_CRACK!_

"–that's a good idea," she finished to an empty flat.

Ginny smoothed her hair with her hand as she waited outside the door to Harry's flat. This was going to be the toughest day in the entire two weeks. It's what Hermione had labelled the _Transition Day_. She needed to be herself and continue to foster a relationship with Harry; however, she also needed to introduce a couple of – quirks –into her personality. It needed to be a smooth transition or Harry might become suspicious. After she accomplished that, the fun stuff could begin.

It was only a few moments before Harry opened the door. "Ginny!" he greeted with a wide smile. "Come in." He stood back so she could enter before closing the door behind her. "May I take your cloak?"

"Yes, thank you," she replied before bending down to place Harry's gift on the ground. After she stood up, Harry took his time sliding off her cloak. She turned around to face him so she could tease him about trying to feel her up. When she faced him, however, Harry rested his palm on her cheek, caressing it. He leaned in and gave her the most tender kiss she had ever received. It was as if she were a fragile object he was afraid to break. Normally she would have been annoyed at such treatment, but for some reason she felt like a precious stone, special.

The kiss had ended, but Ginny didn't open her eyes right away. She was still caught in the emotions Harry had stirred up. When she opened her eyes she was greeted with sight of Harry standing in front of her with a small smile on his face.

"Hi."

"Hi, yourself." Harry waggled his eyebrows.

"And what did I do to deserve such a greeting?"

Harry shoved his fists in his pockets and bounced on the balls of his feet. His face was impassive. He would have been the picture of innocence if it wasn't for the gleam in his eyes. "I decided to take your advice."

"On what?" Ginny asked. She was caught off-guard by his greeting. She'd have to be prepared for that in the future.

"Not waiting until you're sleeping."

Her heart fluttered at the look in his eyes and she had to look away. He moved forward to embrace her again, but stopped when Ginny turned her head. He must have thought he said the wrong thing, because he stiffened and looked away. Not wanting him to think that she forced a soft snort, followed by a convincing giggle. It grew into a chortle and she had to clutch the arm of the sofa to stand up straight with one hand and held the fake stitch in her side with the other.

"I'm sorry," Ginny tried to say, but it came out in a wheeze. "That was…the smarmiest line I have ever heard!"

"What can I say?" He shrugged. "You bring out my inner smarminess."

That made her fake laughter harder. She was baffled by his confidence and sincerity.

"Hey, what's this you brought?"

Harry had picked up the box containing his plant.

"Oh," Ginny said moving forward. "This is for you, as a thank you for the flowers."

"Thanks, Gin," Harry leaned in and pecked her on the cheek.

It was unnerving how natural Harry seemed at showing her affection. Except for a brief period in her fifth year, there had been a distance between them. At first, it had been a strained friendship; she had secretly wanted to be more than friends and despite the niggling, hopeful feeling that Harry was sort of interested in her. Ginny did not want to push him when he was far too preoccupied with the war and other matters. With time, the awkwardness faded and they settled into something that was more than acquaintances but not quite friends. They knew they were supposed to be close, but weren't quite sure how to act around each other. But now… now Harry definitely wasn't treating her like a distant relative. Not for the first time, Ginny wondered why there was such a change in Harry.

"Why don't we find a place for it in the dining room or kitchen? Those rooms have the best light."

Ginny followed Harry silently through a swinging door. She stopped short when she registered the scene before her, barely noticing the door swinging closed and hitting her in the back.

The food was already laid out on the table, but it wasn't the fine cooking that caught her attention. The entire room was lit with soft, flickering candles. It created a warm glow around the table, highlighting the flower centerpiece. It was made from the tulips Neville was describing earlier. They were currently fading from a crimson red to a delicate shade of peach. Neville was right, they truly were magnificent.

Harry returned to the dining room from the kitchen. Ginny had to pull herself together. She couldn't let him know he had made her speechless twice in such a short time. It was time for her to turn the tables a bit and keep him on his toes.

"What are you still doing over there?" he questioned her position up against the door.

"I'm just in shock," she feigned bewilderment. "I never knew The Boy-Who-Lived was so… _domestic_."

"I'll have you know that I've known my way around a kitchen since I was nine years old." He smirked and prodded her towards a seat.

Ginny side stepped him and entered the kitchen. He wasn't winning that easily. She ignored his gaze and started opening up the doors of his cabinets. She had just moved on to the drawers when he finally spoke.

"Um, Ginny the silverware's already out on the table. What are you doing?"

"Looking," she answered as she stood up with a wicked grin. "There has to be a frilly pink apron here somewhere."

"With flowers?"

"And butterflies."

"Sorry to disappoint you," he said. He waved his wand and the cupboard door swung open. "It's only blue. No frills. I could add them if you like."

Ginny tried not to frown at his response. It certainly wasn't what she expected. "No, that's all right. It's just not the same if it's not pink."

"Ah," he nodded sagely. "Something like this then?" Another twirl of his wand left a vivid pink apron hovering in mid air. Ginny looked at it with horror. It had more ruffles, lace, and bows than she had ever seen on one garment.

"Try it on. It'll go great with your hair."

Ginny had to duck and jump aside to avoid being trapped in The Apron of Death. "I don't think so, Potter," she spat, her eyes flashing. "I don't wear pink and I definitely do not cook!"

Harry clutched his chest and his eyes opened with shock. "Do my ears deceive me? Is it true that the only daughter of Molly Weasley cannot cook?"

"I can toast bread perfectly and I make a wonderful cob salad. Anything else you'll have to order out for unless you want to take a trip to St. Mungo's."

"Good thing I like cob salad then," he winked. "Come on, let's eat before dinner gets cold."

"Yes, _Miss_ Potter." That'd get him.

"Miss Potter, eh?" his voice was calculating. "Does that make you Johnny Weasley?"

"Is that the type you go for, Harry?" she raised her eyebrow.

"Only if they're a petite witch with long red hair, chocolate brown eyes, and six older brothers." With that, he turned and walked into the dining room where dinner was waiting.

Ginny narrowed her eyes at his retreating back, ignoring the butterflies that seemed to take permanent residence in her stomach. This was going to be harder than she had thought. What Hermione said was true, he was a stubborn git. It was going to be hard, but not impossible. She just had to up the stakes.

To say Harry was a good cook was an understatement. Ginny was thoroughly impressed with his culinary abilities, which led her to wonder what other hidden talents she didn't know about. She just took another bit of her roasted chicken when she noticed Harry watching her.

"Wha?" she asked through a mouthful of food.

"I just can't believe you grew up at the Burrow and didn't pick up anything from your mum."

"She was too busy shoving it down our throats to stop and teach us how she made it. Besides," she continued, adding another spoonful of rice to her plate, "I think she planned it this way. If any of us were as good as her, then we wouldn't have to come home so often for her cooking."

Harry nodded knowingly. "She does love having you all there. I'm surprised she hasn't driven herself mad with boredom. She doesn't know what to do with an empty house."

"Oh, I'm sure she's plenty occupied now that Dad's cut back on his hours," she smirked.

"Ginny Weasley!" He looked scandalized. "How can you talk about your own mum and dad that way?!"

"Oh, tosh. They've never been able to keep their hands to themselves. How do you think there got to be seven of us?"

"Yes…I figured…but…that is…" Ginny could hardly contain her glee at seeing how flustered he was. All she had to do was plant the image of her parents doing naughty things together in his head. Now she only had to not think about it herself.

"How can you talk so calmly about it?" he finally asked.

"We've all walked in on them at least once when we were younger. They've always shown affection openly. It's just something that…is."

Ginny picked up her now empty plate and wineglass and walked back into the kitchen. She had just cast a cleaning charm on her plate when Harry walked up behind her.

"And do you take after your parents with showing affection?" he whispered in her ear.

Ginny bit her lip to keep from shivering from his breath against her ear. She turned around to face him and placed her hands on his shoulders. "Possibly," she answered, "In the right time and place, and with the right person."

"What about now?" He moved closer.

"Now is the perfect time for dessert."

"Dessert?" he asked, eyes glinting in the light.

"Yeah." She licked her lips. "I spied some treacle tart before when I was looking for your frilly pink apron."

Harry smirked and stepped away, not appearing as fazed as she would have liked. "Treacle tart sounds amazing."

"Excellent. Why don't you go wait on the sofa and I'll bring some out."

Harry watched her for a few moments before nodding and backing up through the swinging door, not taking his eyes off her until it swung shut.

Once Harry was safely out of the room, Ginny rushed over to the pantry where she saw the dessert earlier, thanking Merlin that Harry didn't suspect ulterior motives when she rummaged through his kitchen.

Quickly, she cut two pieces and placed them on separate plates.

Out of the corner of her eye, she spied the Snuggle Plant on the kitchen table. She stopped what she was doing. She saw the care pamphlet sitting next to the pot. With a glance over her shoulder, she lifted up the plant and slid the instructions underneath. Only a small corner peeked out so she figured she was safe.

Ginny turned back to the two plates and slipped her hand into the pocket of her robe. She pulled out a small Nosebleed Nougat she found during her last trip to the Burrow.

She slipped the small treat into the treacle tart and made sure nothing looked tampered with.

Ginny took a deep calming breath. She straightened out her clothes and ran a hand over her hair. Picking up the plates, she headed to where Harry was waiting for here and hummed a tune under her breath. _Here goes nothing._


	6. Chapter 6: Brothers and Blood

Ron pounded on Ginny's door

Ron pounded on Ginny's door. He knew better than to Apparate unannounced into her flat. She always valued her sense of privacy. He had learned that the hard way, he recalled, when he was seventeen, rubbing his nose with a grimace.

"Ginny! Open up!" He pounded harder on the door. When she didn't answer, he unlocked the door with his wand and stepped inside. This was probably better. He could just get his shirt and leave without having to confront her about stealing his Cannons shirt.

He walked through her flat. He always liked visiting her here. It wasn't big, but it was comfortable. She had rented it a few months after she started working at the_ Daily Prophet_. She wasn't making much at the time, but she took after his mum when it came to stretching her gold. Every room was painted a different warm colour, recreating the cosiness of The Burrow.

Hermione had taken her to Muggle flea markets. After digging through loads of options, they found the perfect pieces to add to her new place. He knew that since she began working at iThe Quibbler/ishe was more financially stable, but for reasons he did not understand, she refused to upgrade her furniture. Perhaps there was sentimental value to all her junk. The kitchen table was solid and inviting. They had also found chairs to match. Ron didn't understand why Ginny didn't look for regular furniture like he and Hermione had, but she insisted on Muggle ones. She took after their father in that way, he supposed. Ever since she was four or five, she could always be found wandering out to their father's shed. The two of them would spend hours in there together. Ron was sure most of the time Ginny didn't know what she was looking at, but she was "Daddy's little girl" and his dad loved to show her all the new gadgets he brought home. Ron suspected it was more his dad's enthusiasm that attracted Ginny to Muggles than anything else.

But Ron wasn't concerned about Ginny's decorating style or preoccupation with all things unmagical. Right now he had a shirt to find. He strode through her living room and down the hallway that he knew led to her bedroom. He stopped after taking two steps inside of it. It was like a disaster zone. While the bed was made and everything seemed to be in order, it looked like her wardrobe had spit out every item of clothing she own. He'd nearly tripped over a shoe upon entering.

He let out a long sigh. It looked like this might be harder than he anticipated. At least orange was an easy colour to spot.

After ten minutes of looking, he nearly gave up. It wasn't among any of the articles strewn about her room, and frankly, he didn't fancy looking anymore. He had inadvertently picked up several of her unmentionables and planned on having a talk with her as to why she needed such extravagant undergarments. Then again, maybe he didn't want to know.

It was an understatement to say that he was shocked at the state of her room. When they had been growing up, she had always been meticulous about keeping her room in order. He thought it had something to do with knowing if one of her brothers were in there or not. Even after she moved in here, she had always kept it tidy except for her collection of old _Quibbler_sand her office while she was mid-article. This…this was different.

He spied the open door that connected her bedroom to the bathroom. He could see from where he stood that the sink was littered with different potions, pastes, and creams. Taking another look around her bedroom, he noticed that most of the clothes were neither nightgowns nor lumpy jumpers. No, she would never have worn any of these outfits to The Burrow. It was almost like she had a date.

Ron felt his ears turn red at the thought of Ginny on a date with some git. He realized she was old enough to date, but she always went out with tossers or nancy boys. She still hadn't found the right guy yet. Someone who had a sense of humour and was competent with a wand. Someone he could be friends with, someone like Ha–, well, someone right for her.

Pushing thoughts of Ginny's love life aside, he approached her wardrobe. It had only taken him a few seconds for his eyes to spot orange near the back. He hastily grabbed the shirt and pulled it out to examine it.

His eyes widened in horror at the sight of his beloved lucky shirt.

"GINNY!"

Ginny walked through the door to find Harry reclined on the sofa, legs crossed at the ankles and his hands laced behind his head.

"What's got you looking so smug?" she asked, stopping a few feet away from him.

"I have a beautiful witch serving me my favourite dessert. Why shouldn't I be smug?"

"Prat," she said, making sure to hand him the correct plate. "If you're so happy about it, why don't you dig in?"

"I think I will," he was already reaching for his fork. He took a large piece and chewed slowly, savouring the taste. "That," he said, "was good."

Ginny only smiled and took a small forkful herself. She didn't want to raise his suspicions, but right now she was more focused on his eating then her own. Harry wasted no time going for his second bite. The blissful expression suddenly turned into one of confusion, as if he tasted something that wasn't supposed to be there.

Ginny pressed her lips together and stayed silent as Harry swallowed the food in his mouth.

"Did you… Blast!" He brought his hand up to his nostrils and pulled it back to see a few drops of blood on it. "Ginny!"

"What's the matter, Harry? Were your fingers acting like little nifflers looking for gold? Didn't anyone tell you that's not hygienic?" she giggled. It was a cheap trick, but amusing nonetheless. She had been planning on using this on Ron the next time she saw him, but this worked.

"Bery fubby Gibby," Harry muttered. He had all but stuffed his napkin in his nose to try to stop the trickling of blood. He leaned his head back and pinched the bridge even though that wouldn't do anything since the injury was induced my magic. "Gib me the odder habf"

"Okay Harry, but first you have to say the magic phrase."

"_Gibby_," he groaned. "Fine, preddy please?"

"That's very polite of you, but that's not what I was looking for. I want you to repeat after me."

Harry gave her a withering look, but eventually nodded.

"I, Harry Potter."

"I, Harry Podder,"

"Do solemnly swear,"

"Do solemnly swear,"

"That Ginny Weasley…"

"Dat Gibby Weasley…"

"…is the queen of everything magical."

"…ib da queen of ebythin magibal," he sounded amused. "Now gib me it."

"Well that wasn't the ending I expected, but I suppose I could do that for you."

She took the other half of the Nosebleed Nougat out of her pocket and placed it in Harry's waiting hand. She barely got her hand away before he swallowed the treat.

Harry took the tissues out of his nose and waited for the remedy to take effect.

"Shite!" he cursed. A new wave of blood started to seep out of his nostrils, only this time it was faster.

"Oh no," Ginny whispered. All amusement about the situation was gone. The second half should've stopped the blood. "Sit still, Harry. I'll stop this."

Harry nodded and froze with the back of his palm pressed against his nose. Ginny took a deep, calming breath and took out her wand. She pointed it at Harry's nose. "Episkey."

The spell seemed to have clotted the nose, but only for a few seconds before the flow of blood resumed in full force.

"Damn."

She conjured a towel and pressed it against his nose. "Harry, I'm so sorry!" she whispered frantically, her face close to his. "It was supposed to stop. I don't know what's wrong. I didn't mean for this to happen. Please believe me."

"It's okay, Gin". He smiled slightly behind the towel. "Where did you find those? I thought the twins stopped selling them in Great Britain because all the teachers and parents knew about the trick."

"I found one at The Burrow. Probably one of the ones Mum confiscated." She was starting to get worried. The blood wasn't stopping and he looked a bit pale.

Harry groaned. "If they were the ones your Mum found, they were probably the prototypes. They got the nose to bleed but didn't know how to stop it. They tried it my fifth year and had to go to the Hospital Wing for a potion."

"Oh Merlin…Harry do you have any medical books or a First Aid Potions Kit?"

"I have a Remedial Healing book. It's on the shelf over there."

Ginny rushed over to where Harry pointed. She tried to ignore her shaking hand as she ran her fingers over the spines of the books looking for the one that would help. Thankfully, his collection wasn't as large as Hermione's so it only took a minute of searching to find it. She opened it to the table of contexts and found the chapter she needed. "Harry, do you remember what the twins said that Madam Pomfrey did?"

"Uh, I think they mentioned something about a potion. Said it tasted right awful but worked fast."

"Right." Ginny flipped the pages until she found the potion she was positive would work. "Do you think you'd have these ingredients in your kitchen?"

"I might have some but not all."

She placed the open book on the table and sat next to Harry. She put her hands on both of his cheeks and turned his face gently towards her own. "I'm going to Apparate to The Burrow. Mum always has a stock of potion supplies. We got into so much trouble growing up she had to be prepared for anything. You stay here and I'll be right back. I'll fix this."

She lifted the towel from his nose and said "Scourgify." She gingerly placed it back to his face. She was about to stand up to Apparate, but changed direction, planting a kiss on his forehead.

"I'm sorry."

Ron stormed through The Burrow, calling out to see if anyone was home. The lights were off and the house was quiet so it looked like he was alone.

He was fuming. How dare she? It was bad enough that he spent his childhood always looking for his socks just to find them on her feet. It was bad enough that she stole all of his Christmas jumpers. It was _bad enough_ that she had to steal his _lucky _Cannons shirt. But no. No, she had to…to defile his shirt by sticking that _badge_ on it.

And the Tornados? When had she ever liked them? She had always been a Harpies fan. She was just as mad as he did when people claimed to be Tornados fans right when they started playing better. Then Harry began playing for them and their popularity increased even more. Maybe Harry gave her the badge. Ron couldn't remember the last time Harry and Ginny saw each other. They might not have told him. Why wouldn't they tell him if they met up? The only reason they would do that would be if they were hiding something.

Ron shook the thoughts away from his head for now. He was there for a purpose. He lit the kitchen when he walked in and looked at the Weasley Family Clock on the wall. Ginny's clock was swinging over to "Travelling", and a moment later, it moved to "Home".

A soft popping noise came from outside and Ginny ran through the kitchen door. She didn't notice him as she ran past him to the pantry holding a basket.

Ron, still angry about his shirt, moved to block Ginny's exit from the pantry.

"I've been looking for you," he grumbled. Ginny nearly jumped a foot off the ground in surprise.

"Ron, whatever it is, now is not the time," she snapped. She began pulling different jars and phials off the shelves and placed them in her basket. As he got a better look at his sister, he noticed that her face was paler than normal and her hands were shaking as she searched for more supplies.

"Ginny, what is it? What's going on?"

She didn't bother to stop what she was doing. "I can't. Not now Ron. I just need… there it is!" She grabbed one last phial and turned to leave, but Ron was still blocking the way out.

"Move."

Her voice was firm and her eyes sparked. He almost obeyed her command before he realized what he was doing. "No, Ginny, not until you tell me what's happened."

"You have one more chance, Ron. _Move_."

He was really starting to worry now. Her eyes were darting around and she began to pace like a caged animal. Was that blood on her hands? "Please, Ginny. I've never seen you like this. What's wrong?"

Ginny pulled out her wand and pointed it at Ron's chest. It was surprisingly steady. She'd hexed him before and he knew she wouldn't hesitate to do it again, but his protective instincts had already kicked in. "Ginny, if something's wrong, maybe I can help."

She took a step back and for an instant he thought she was going to tell him. Instead she raised her wand over her head and she Disapparated.

Ron ran to look at the clock to see if she was in any danger. Her setting was now at "Out". That meant she wasn't in Mortal Peril, but it also meant that he had no clue where she had gone.

"I have all the ingredients here. It shouldn't take me long to brew it."

Ginny lined up all the potion ingredients on the small table set up in front of Harry's sofa. A cauldron and other necessary materials were also ready.

"Ginny, calm down. It's just a little blood. I'm fine."

Ginny nearly dropped a glass jar at the sight of him. He had switched his position to lying down on the sofa and there appeared to be more blood then fabric on the cloth she conjured.

"Oh Harry," she sighed. "You noble idiot."

She cleaned the towel again for him, since he was either too daft or stubborn to do it himself. She tugged on his arm to pull him into a sitting position. "Come on, Harry. Up you go."

"Where are you taking me?"

"Your bedroom."

"Taking advantage of me in my condition?"

"I see that you're still your cheeky self so I suppose I shouldn't be worried yet." She frog marched him down the hall that she assumed led to his bedroom. After they reached their destination, she ordered him to get into bed and pulled the covers over him. Once he was settled, she sat on the edge of his bed and took out a glass container of blue liquid.

"This is a Blood-Replenishing Potion. Mum's kept some at The Burrow ever since Dad was bit by that snake."

"I don't think I've lost that much blood to need this."

Ginny crossed her arms and tried to appear stern, but she was worried. He was even paler than before and she couldn't handle watching the white towel slowly turn red with blood another time. "Humour me," she pleaded. "Please."

Harry opened his mouth, but paused and looked at Ginny for a few seconds. Eventually, he swallowed a lump in his throat and nodded in submission.

Ginny handed him the blood-replenishing potion and made it clear that she wouldn't leave until he drank all of it.

Ginny had never had difficulty in Potions, besides keeping her temper in line when Snape made snide remarks about her work. Her mother used to ask her how she could do so well in the subject but terrible in the kitchen. Ginny would only shrug and say she must have a mental block when it came to cooking.

Tonight was the first time she was worried about the potion she had to brew. It wasn't difficult, but she had to rein her impatience in. That was her least favourite part about the art of potion making – the interminable waiting. She had to return to Harry's room three more times while it was brewing to make sure he kept his wound and towel clean. When it was finally done, she poured it into a goblet and hurried over to the bedroom.

Her stomach sank at the sight of him. His hand loosely held the towel to his face, as if it was too tired or weak to stay there. At the sound of the door opening, he opened his eyes and blinked slowly at Ginny.

She placed the goblet on the nightstand next to him and sat down on the edge of the bed, taking hold of his hand. "It needs to cool down a bit more, but you'll be able to take it soon. It'll taste bad; that's due to the armadillo bile in it. How are you feeling?"

Harry lifted his head a few inches but let it fall back to the pillow. "Dizzy," he whispered.

Ginny helped Harry ease into a semi-upright position. The sudden move must have upset what little blood was still flowing to his head. She began rearranging his pillows and blankets. She wasn't exactly sure how fluffing pillows would help, but she felt compelled to do so. Perhaps she was more like her mother than she thought. Whenever she or one of her brothers were sick, her mum would fuss over them.

She remembered the smothered feeling when this would happen and paused. For a moment, she was afraid Harry felt the same way, but it didn't seem like he minded. She stopped smoothing out his covers and sat beside him.

"Sorry." She reached out and brushed the fringe away from his brow. "I reckon its cool enough now. Best drink it fast to avoid the taste."

He downed the contents of the goblet in one large gulp. Ginny thought he took it rather stoically until he began to shudder at the awful taste. He stuck his tongue out in a feeble attempt to eliminate the taste.

"Eck. I knew it would taste bad, but nothing could have prepared me for _that._" His body convulsed another time from the remnants still in his mouth. "Ugh. Wretched. I don't suppose I'm allowed to eat anything to take the taste away."

"Actually," Ginny rose from the bed, "I didn't see anything saying you couldn't. Let me double check the book to make sure."

When she returned to the bedroom, she was carrying a new slice of treacle tart. She saw Harry eyeing it warily and sighed.

"Don't worry, this one's not tampered with. I'll even take a bite of it myself to prove it to you."

"No, no that's fine." He grabbed the plate and began shovelling it into his mouth.

Ginny noted with satisfaction that the blood had stopped, though there were dry bits still left around the edges of his nostrils. She picked up the forgotten towel and cleaned it one final time. She conjured a glass of water and dipped the towel inside. After dampening it, she turned her attention back to Harry, who was finished with his dessert. Gently, she took the empty plate out of his hands and sat it next to the discarded goblet.

"Here, let me." Ginny lifted his chin with her fingers so he was facing her. She proceeded to remove this excess blood from his face, ignoring Harry's intense gaze.

The guilt of that night's events was still sitting heavily in her stomach. She moved to sit next to him against the headboard, refusing to look at him.

"So," she said after a minute of agonizing silence, "how are you feeling now?"

"Better. I – whoa!" He tried to sit up further but slid back down, resting his head on Ginny's shoulder. "Still lightheaded. Maybe…I lost more blood than I thought."

If Ginny thought before that she couldn't feel any worse about what happened she was wrong. She only meant to make him uncomfortable and possibly beg for mercy. She hadn't wanted to send him to the hospital! Now he was still feeling light-headed. Both potions should have taken effect already, and he should be feeling better.

""Maybe you need some more Blood-Replenishing Potion." She began to get up, but Harry caught her arm.

"No!" he nearly shouted. "Uh, I feel fine with my head like this. I think I just need to sit still for a while."

Ginny relaxed against the bed once more and Harry returned his head to her shoulder. Hoping to help him feel better, she began to run her fingers over his scalp.

"Mmm," he murmured, closing his eyes.

"Does that help?"

"Feels good."

She slouched farther down so she could turn more to rub his head. The blanket twisted between them, making Harry have to rest at an odd angle. Quickly, before she could second guess herself, she slid underneath the bed linen so that he could be more comfortable. "Is this any better?" she asked after a few minutes of her ministrations.

"Wha? Oh, uh, I still feel a bit dizzy."

"Are you sure you don't want to rest awhile? I can just grab my things and–"

"No," he repeated. "I think if you just, yeah, just keep doing that for a bit then…yeah."

Ginny looked at Harry out of the corner of her eye. His eyes were closed again and he wore a slight smile. But what made Ginny happy was that the colour had finally returned to his cheeks. In fact, if this incident hadn't shaved ten years off her life, she would doubt whether it happened at all. He looked fine. She was surprised Harry hadn't insisted that he was "Fine". He never was one to accept help so easily.

"Harry, if you're still not okay I really think you should see a healer. We can go to St. Mungo's."

"Harry?"

"Harry?" she whispered.

Ginny shifted under the weight of his head on her shoulder. His face was relaxed and his mouth was slightly open. Slowly, Ginny removed her hand from his hair. She bit to her lip to keep from giggling. His hair was sticking up on its ends and she'd never seen it this messy. As gently as she could, she removed his glasses and set it on the table next to her.

His face was different when not hidden by eyeglasses. He looked younger without them. In fact, with his hair mussed up like that, he looked like a little boy who had snuck into his mother's room after having a bad dream.

Ginny's heart clenched as she imagined a four year old version of Harry tiptoeing barefoot down the hall. He was probably a heartbreaker even then. She felt even worse when she realized that he never had the option of crawling in between his parents in the middle of the night if he was scared, as she and Ron had done so many times.

She knew it was getting late and it was time for her to head home. Slowly, to avoid waking him, Ginny slumped farther down the bed. If she got up, she was sure to disturb him and she couldn't bear to wake him from such a peaceful state. It seemed to take an eternity as she inched and wiggled her way down the bed. Thankfully, Harry's body seemed to mimic hers and now resembled a lying position instead of a half-seated one.

She was finally flat on her back, but his head still rested against her shoulder. She was about to slip his head to the pillow when something flung across her stomach, pinning her to the bed. Horrified, she looked down. Harry's arm was strewn carelessly across her waist. Ginny felt him start to shift and she froze, hoping he didn't wake up. Though remained asleep, his body was now angled toward her and his face was pressed against the crook of her neck.

Ginny stifled a cry when she felt a cold foot brush her calf. She bit her bottom lip and looked around wildly, berating herself as to why she made him take off his socks before getting into bed. Ever so slowly, the offending foot slid across her legs, pinning them down at the knees.

Her legs and one arm were now immobile. Ginny was officially trapped beneath an unconscious Harry Potter. Ginny clenched her jaw when she felt his breath against the hair framing her ear. He clutched her tighter like a boy with his stuffed animal. The day's events seemed to catch up with her and the urge to fall asleep washed over her now that the panic had passed and she was warm in a bed.

She wasn't sure how long she stayed like that, unable to move and hearing nothing but the steady rhythm of his breathing. Once again, she regretted ever agreeing to Luna's crazy idea of an article; more so now because she knew that her old, buried feelings for Harry were now coming back in full force. Eventually, her breathing matched his and her eyelids grew heavy. His feet were no longer ice cold where they brushed up against her leg. In fact, no part of him was cold; it was as if he was her personal hot water bottle. Staying immobile underneath Harry Potter was easier than she anticipated.

Ginny looked at his face bathed in moonlight. The serenity she saw there was astonishing and the way his lips were curled into a soft smile made her smile in return. Not allowing herself to think, she gave in to her emotions and the undeniable feeling of security. Ginny twisted in his arms and wound an arm around his back, returning his embrace. It didn't take long before sleep consumed her.

Ginny blinked and stared at the stars twinkled innocently through the window at her through the window. The dark curtains were strangely unfamiliar to her.

She glanced around the dark room, confused to see it wasn't her own. She tried to get up, but there was a heavy weight across her midsection. Slightly annoyed, she glanced down to see what it was.

It was an arm.

Harry's arm.

And she was in a bed.

Harry's bed.

This was interesting. Her neck cracked as it craned to see what time it was. _Shite! _She needed to go. She waited a moment for the inevitable panic to set it, but it never came. Lying in the same bed as Harry was the furthest bit from terrifying. Her eyes didn't fall shut with dread, but something akin to excitement. Her mind tried desperately to ignore her body's reactions to being trapped underneath his warm body. She needed to leave now or she would never want to. She was dating him, not crawling into bed with him at the drop of a hat. Granted, it was a nice, warm, comfortable bed that smelled like Harry's shampoo…

_No_. She needed to get out of here. Get out of this bedroom. Get out of this flat. _Now_. It was getting closer to dawn by the minute, and it would do neither of them any good if she stayed the entire night.

As if he sensed her plan to leave, Harry's hand tightened around her waist and his torso leaned in further, pinning her left arm beneath it. _Shite_. He looked thin but Merlin, he was heavy.

Sliding out from underneath his frame was not an option, she quickly realized. She spied her wand on Harry's dresser. She reached out to grab it, but her hand fell short a couple inches. She tried again, stretching her arms and fingers as much as she could. It didn't work. If she had a few more inches of room, it might have worked, but she couldn't move.

She lifted her head up as far as she could (which wasn't much) to see if Harry's wand was within reach. If it was she could levitate him a fraction and slip out. It was on the night table on the opposite side of Harry. Ginny groaned and dropped her head back to the pillow.

Her eyes widened and her heart gave a surprised flutter when she heard Harry echo her groan and snuggle closer. She glanced around wildly, looking for something that might help her.

After minutes of searching, she suddenly realized what she had to do. She had to roll him. It would be tricky, but could work if done right.

She had done it once before during the summer before her seventh year. Ron had found a bottle of firewhisky and brought it to her, claiming that they hadn't had any sibling time together in the past few years. In the end, Ron had confessed his feelings for Hermione and passed out, crushing Ginny.

Slowly, Ginny wrapped her free arm around Harry's waist. She felt his back muscles stir beneath her fingers, but didn't have time to appreciate them. Ever so slightly, she leaned into the embrace and pushed up. Miraculously, the small prod worked. Harry leaned back like she had hoped, but her world began to spin. It took her a moment to realize that he had yet to release her waist, and that he had dragged her along with him.

She was still caught in his bear hug, but at least she was on top. She unsuccessfully tried to ignore the appeal of staying this way, but the desire to bury her face into his neck slipped through her defences.

After a minute or two of breathing in and enjoying Harry's distinctive scent, she finally gathered enough willpower to pull free. With a little more wiggling and a display of flexibility that would impress most men, Ginny was able to substitute a pillow between his arms instead of her body and scrambled out of bed.

She waited to see if he would wake, but besides furrowing his brows slightly, he did not stir.

She paused in the doorway and watched the steady rise and fall of his chest and how relaxed his face was. In fact, the only time she had ever seen him this relaxed was when he was asleep. Giving into her impulses, she crossed back over to the bed. She pulled the covers up to his chin and made sure they were wrinkle free. Softly, she brushed the hair away from his forehead and placed a kiss on it.

"Good night, Harry."


	7. Chapter 7: Mishaps and Misunderstandings

Harry ran his finger along the edge of the worn photograph

Harry ran his finger along the edge of the worn photograph. It was something he did often during rookie career with the Tornados. It was the only picture there was of Ginny and himself, taken on the steps of The Burrow one summer's evening. He had stolen it soon after, partly because the photo version of himself was sitting a step above Ginny making cow eyes at the back of her head.

For some time now, the picture had stayed in a frame on the topmost level of his bookshelf, tucked away from prying eyes. This morning, after waking up from one of the best night's sleep of his life to find Ginny gone, he grabbed the photo before Floo'ing to work. He couldn't wrap his mind around last night's events. He didn't mind that she slipped him a trick candy. He knew she got her sense of humour from her twin brothers. If he was honest with himself, when it came down to it, he'd eat a Canary Cream daily if it continued to make her laugh like she did last night. But it was what happened afterwards that Harry was obsessing over. He could count the number of times anyone had ever taken care of him, but none of them compared to this. He hadn't meant to fall asleep, but he had been so soothed by Ginny's fingers in his hair and the flowery scent of her shampoo.

Looking at the picture now, Harry was pleasantly shocked. The Ginny in the photograph had moved up a step so that she was now next to Harry. True, they weren't locked in some passionate embrace or holding hands. Hell, they weren't even touching for Merlin's sake. But it was something.

Harry was just gazing at the way photograph Ginny's hair kept falling in her eyes, despite her best efforts to keep it behind her ears when the door to his office swung open.

"I've got to talk to you, Potter."

"Ron!" Harry gasped, nearly falling backwards over his chair. The sight of his best friend collapsing into the chair opposite of his desk sent Harry into a frenzy, trying to hide the picture under rolls of parchment. Ignoring the frantic beating of his heart, he pasted a smile on his face. "How've you been?"

"Not so good, mate. I think you know why," Ron said with narrowed eyes.

Noticing the serious expression on Ron's face, Harry began to panic. He couldn't know. It was impossible. He slid a few pieces of parchment around his desk and made sure the photograph was hidden. "What…what, uh, do you mean?"

"How could you have taken that bet, Harry?!" Ron exploded.

Harry's heart dropped to his stomach. This was it, he was going to die. Ron was going to kill him, and Ginny would hate his memory forever. He couldn't let it end like this. He had to try and make him understand that Ginny meant more to him than just a bet.

"I've been a prat Ron, but you've got to listen-"

"I mean, you think you know someone." Ron ignored Harry and stood up to begin pacing. "You think you know what a person is capable of. I thought you were my best mate!"

"Ron, please!"

But Ron wasn't listening. He slumped back into the chair and ran his large hands over his face. He began mumbling and Harry could only catch phrases. "Trust…completely taking advantage of…family…she'd kill…"

Harry could feel the sweat drip down his back. He should have known Ron would have figured this out. He was rising through the ranks of the Auror Department at a surprising speed.

"Ron, let me explain! I love - "

"Why did you agree to the bet between the Tornados and Cannons? You know Hermione hates it when I bet! Now I have to explain to her where the Galleons went. You know she'll notice," Ron continued, ranting about how meticulous Hermione's accounting was.

Harry, on the other hand, clamped his mouth shut. How could he have forgotten? Despite being a devoted Cannons fan, Ron knew the chance of his team winning against the Tornados was unlikely. Over the years, they had begun making smaller bets. The latest one had been that the Cannons would score before the Tornados. He let out a sigh of relief and couldn't believe how close he had been to digging his own grave.

Chuckling, Harry said, "Yeah, she's not going to be happy about this loss."

Ron finally seemed to register Harry's presence in the room. "Not at all. Wait, what did you just say?"

"Eh?"

"You said something. What do you love?"

_Bollocks_. "Quidditch? I love Quidditch? Uh, but since I don't want you sleeping on the sofa for the foreseeable future, how bout we just forget about it?"

Ron didn't seem convinced, but the thought of avoiding a row with Hermione seemed to distract him. "Seriously? You'd forget about the bet?"

"Absolutely," Harry said a bit too enthusiastically. "What are best friends for?"

A slow smile spread across Ron's face. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"Honestly," Harry continued, keen to steer the conversation in a different direction, "anything I can do to help out my friends. Last thing I would want is to cause any waves in your happy little marriage."

Ron's smile was larger now. "We are happy, aren't we?" He stared at Harry for a moment as if deciding if he should say something. "Er, Hermione and I were talking about…well, about you the other day."

"Oh yeah? Only good things I hope."

"She's…that is, we're worried about you," Ron began and shifted in his chair. "We want you to be happy."

"What are you talking about?" Harry laughed disbelievingly. "I'm happy!"

"We want you to be happy like we're happy. You see?" Ron clarified carefully.

Harry stared uncomprehendingly at Ron. He was happy. He had great friends and a great job. Things with Ginny were going…Oh.

"You want me to get married?" he choked out.

"Er, kinda," his friend replied, gazing at the items on the desk instead of Harry. "Hermione reckons you shouldn't be alone."

"You think I'm alone?" Harry asked, dumbfounded and overwhelmed.

"I guess, I guess we…" Ron let out a deep breath and sat forward in his chair. Harry was surprised to see the earnest expression in Ron's face. "Look, we all knew during school you had bigger things to worry about than girls. After the war, I guess we both expected – or at least hoped – you to…well, do something."

Harry stared at Ron for a few moments. His friend wasn't joking. His face was sincere, and the tips of his ears were turning red, presumably from the awkward topic of conversation. "You're serious about this, aren't you?"

Ron nodded fervently. "Hermione was talking about setting you up with someone a week or so ago. I thought she finally went round the twist, but there's this new Auror recruit-"

"Whoa! Ron, slow down. I don't want to date your Auror friend," Harry quickly interrupted. The last thing he needed was for Ginny to hear that her brother was setting him up. "I, er, am sorta seeing someone at the moment, actually." His hands felt to make sure the photo was still present under the parchment.

Ron eyed him accusingly. "It's not one of your Quidditch groupies, is it?"

"No!" Harry laughed. "She definitely isn't a Tornados groupie or impressed by whole Boy-Who-Lived thing."

"Do I know her?"

"Uh, Ron do you mind if I really don't want to talk about it just yet?"

"Why? Is she a hag or something? It _is_ a girl right?" Ron joked.

"Of course it's a girl, you prat." Harry hesitated before adding, "And she's bloody gorgeous. I just don't want to jinx it. I have a good feeling about this one."

"That's really great, Harry. Hermione's going to be so relieved! I know, why don't you stop over our place tonight for dinner?" Ron stood up from his seat and walked over to the door.

Harry nearly breathed a sigh of relief to see that the conversation was nearly over. "Actually, I have other plans.'

Ron smirked. "Got a hot date with your new girlfriend?"

"I still have to send the owl, but yeah. Something like that," Harry answered, unable to keep the smile off his face.

"I see how it is. Are you gonna…" Ron trailed off making a vulgar gesture.

The book Harry threw missed him by inches as Ron shut the door with a laugh.

Ginny had spent the entire morning sleeping. Besides the few hours she spent in Harry's bed, she didn't get much rest. She had only woken when there was an insistent tapping on the window. Grumpily she had allowed the owl inside. It carried a letter from Hermione demanding that she meet her and Susan for lunch to tell them about last night.

While she was out, she received a short note from Harry telling her that they were to have dinner at his flat again, and this time he'd take care of the dessert. Thankfully, it appeared that he had no hard feelings about last night.

The fact that he wanted to see her again tonight had surprised her. This would be their fourth date in a row. Thankfully, she was with Hermione and Susan when Hedwig arrived with the note and a flower. If she had been with another member of her family, she'd have a lot of explaining to do.

Hermione had insisted that Harry's interest was a good thing, since it indicated everything was going according to plan. Ginny had blushed and twirled the flower in her hand, neglecting to tell her friends the latter part of the past evening's events. It felt too private to share with her sister-in-law and friend.

Ginny glanced at her watch and swore. It surprised her to see how much time had passed while she was absorbed in the memories of the other night, and now she was running late.

She threw her dirty clothes in the corner where they vanished to her laundry room. She had to get ready for tonight.

Ginny was finished changing when an owl swooped through an open window and landed on her counter. She wasn't surprised to see Susan's note attached to the bird's leg. After she had left their company this afternoon, she spent a lot of time contemplating what last night meant.

Even though she had come to no definite conclusion, too much of her was screaming not to do this. She had sent a letter to Susan saying that she was done with the article.

Ginny tore open the note and read quickly.

_Ginny stop over-thinking things! Hermione and I have the plan all figured out, remember? No time for cold feet now. Just go to Harry's and do your part and you'll do fine._

_- Susan_

She crumpled the note into a small ball and threw it in the bin. She'd go to Harry's, but she wasn't going to go through with the plan.

Harry cursed as the kitchen knife he had been using to slice bread cut his finger. Sucking his wound in his mouth, he abandoned the food in search for his wand. He didn't have to look at a clock to know he was running late. Things were not going well so far. Harry had been in the middle of changing out of his work clothes when he finally received a reply from Ginny. In his haste to relieve the owl of its note he had tripped and tore his favourite pair of trousers. Since he had never perfected the mending charms, he threw them in a corner where it'd stay until he visited Mrs. Weasley. After that, he'd been so angry with himself that he put too much force behind his spell and sent vegetables flying in all directions.

He finally located his wand, lying next to the plant Ginny had brought him, and healed his cut finger. There were several times, as he prepared dinner that he wanted to chuck it all in the bin and order food, but he didn't want to do that. He had to impress Ginny. He took a calming breath and surveyed the scene in front of him. Food was cooking on the stove and knives – now assisted by magic – chopped raw vegetables on free counter space.

All he needed was for Ginny to come. Everything would be better once she got here. All the ruined food and torn clothes wouldn't matter once he saw her and was able to tell her – or try to tell her – what it meant to him when she stayed there and took care of him like she did.

Harry restlessly sat at his kitchen table and occasionally directed pots and ingredients around the room with his wand. He had just finished setting the table when there was a soft knock on the door. Mindful not to rush, lest he ruin another article of clothing; he made his way to the front door.

He tried half-heartedly to flatten his untameable hair before turning the knob. The door swung open to reveal Ginny who was smiling radiantly. "Ginny!"

"Harry." She hovered nervously in the doorway and blushed.

As much as he tried, he couldn't hide his pleasure. He hadn't seen her blush like that in years. Before Ginny could move, Harry enveloped her in a tight hug. She seemed surprised by his enthusiasm, but quickly returned it.

"Oh Harry, I'm so glad to see you're alright," the words came out in a tangled rush. "I was so worried all day!"

Harry bit back a smile as he listened to her continue to chatter. At least now he didn't have to worry about finding away to bring up the topic. "Hey listen," he interrupted, "about that-"

"You are alright, aren't you? I just assumed." Her hands flitted nervously over his shoulders and face. She didn't seem sure where to touch him.

Wanting to distract her and prove that he was fine, he caught her hands and led her to the couch. "So you were thinking about me all day?"

To his surprise, she didn't take the bait or give him a sassy reply. Instead, she leaned against him and clutched his hand. "You should have seen yourself, Harry. There was so much blood."

"Hey." He nudged her side and placed a light kiss on her hairline. "I've been through worse. Madam Pomfrey was going to give me my own room in the Hospital Wing."

"Don't joke like that!" she admonished, but there was no harshness behind her voice. "Honestly Harry, I don't know how you always seem to find trouble."

He would have pointed out that she was the one who had put the sweet in the treacle tart but he didn't think it was the right time to bring that up. He watched as she traced the lines of his palm with her fingers, content with the silence.

"So how was your day?" The question was surprisingly normal and seemed out of place in the whirlwind that has been the last four days. It was nice.

He relaxed and settled further into the couch. "Slow but good. Ron stopped by my office this morning."

At the mentioned of her brother's name, her hand stilled in his for a moment before continuing its patterns. "Is that so?"

Harry wondered what Ginny's feelings were about her family knowing about them. He knew he wanted more time with her before anything was mentioned. He needed to know that this was for real before he was at the mercy of her brothers. "He wanted to set me up on a date."

"Oh." This time her hand did stop. She shifted away from him, her expression unreadable. "Did you agree?"

He wanted to laugh at the absurdity, but the look on her face told him to take this seriously. "I told him we'd have a conflict of interest."

"Which was?" she asked with an extremely hesitant voice.

"Well, I don't think she'd like it very much that I'd be spending all my time with you," he explained as he toyed with a lock of her hair. "And I'm definitely not giving that up."

He wasn't prepared for the Ginny-sized Bludger that collided with his body. Her arms wrapped around him in a vice-like grip and he felt her entire body shaking.

"Well, I hope Ron wasn't too disappointed," she whispered in his ear. Her voice was steady except for the slight quiver at the end. "I don't think he would have been happy with me either. I'd've been forced to sabotage all your dates."

Harry pulled back from the embrace so he could look in her eyes. They sparkled with mischief but he could see the seriousness behind it. A shiver of excitement shot through his body at the thought of Ginny fighting dirty for him. "Now there's a side of you I'd like to get to know better."

Happiness was rolling off her in waves now. She shifted so she was sitting on her knees facing him, her face inches from his. "What's the matter, Harry? Did you not like me playing nursemaid last night?"

"Oh, I liked the nursemaid very much. I wouldn't mind if she came back for another check up." Harry settled further into the couch, arms stretched out against the back of it.

In a flash, Ginny pivoted so that she was sitting sideways across his lap. "Does Harry need some tender…loving…care?" she asked as her hands ran their way through his hair.

His throat had completely dried up, so he settled for nodding in response.

After gently removing his glasses and placing them on the table, Ginny traced the bridge of his nose with her finger. It travelled down the length of it and around the slight flare of his nostrils. When she spoke her voice was soft and teasing. "Maybe I shouldn't have given you that Blood Replenishing potion, Harry. You're a bit flushed."

Despite not having his glasses, Ginny was close enough for him to see clearly. He watched her laugh as he grumbled, "Witch."

She ignored him and continued, more seriously this time. "It looks completely healed, although I'm sure it's still a bit tender."

"You can always kiss it and make it better," he suggested.

Her face contorted into a grimace. "Uh, not to be rude, but how do you expect me to kiss the injured part."

His eyes rolled on their own volition. "Work with me here, Ginny."

She stifled a giggle and said, "Sorry."

Slowly, she brushed her nose along the side of his and fought to keep his eyes open. Ginny then leaned up and placed a gentle lingering kiss on the tip of his nose. With shaking hands, Harry tucked her hair behind her ears and returned the gesture. With his still cupping her cheeks, he pulled back to look at Ginny's face. Her eyelashes lay against her cheeks and she wore the most blissful smile he had ever seen. Slowly, Ginny fluttered her eyes open to look straight into his. His heart pounded in his chest so hard he absently thought he might break a rib.

Before he could to anything else, they were interrupted by a knock at the door. Harry grit his teeth in frustration as Ginny slid off his lap and settled next to him. After taking a calming breath, he stood up and crossed his flat to answer the door.

"What?" he grumbled, not caring about his manners.

Harry stared at his visitors in shock and heard a sharp intake of breath behind him. What on earth was going on? Outside his door was a woman with dirty blonde hair and apple cheeks and…_Neville_?_!_ His friend sent him a shy smile. "Hiya Harry."

"Neville." Whatever it was he needed he hoped it wouldn't take long.

When Harry didn't say anything else, his friend started to look uncomfortable. "Uh, can we come in?"

Dumbfounded, he stepped to the side and allowed them into his flat. To describe the scene as awkward would have been a gross understatement. Neville and his companion hovered near the wall of his flat, while he was rooted by the door, hand clutching the knob. Ginny remained standing a few feet from the couch and her face was a mask of confusion and anger.

Glancing at his companion again, Neville said, "Harry you remember Susan Bones, don't you?"

Recognition finally flitted into Harry's mind. "Susan. Of course! How are you?" _What are you doing here?_

"I'm fine, Harry. It's nice to see you again," she said politely. "We're sorry to barge in unannounced, but I really needed to speak to Ginny. Its work related."

Ginny's eyes narrowed. "Fine," she spat. "Harry can we use your bedroom?"

"Sure," he shrugged, happier now that it looked like that wouldn't be staying long. "I have to go check on dinner anyway. Neville, you want to give me a hand?" he asked his friend.

"Oh, umm, okay," Neville replied and removed his cloak.

Ginny grabbed Susan's elbow, all but dragging her toward the bedroom. He wasn't sure, but he could have sworn that he heard her hissing something at Susan as they neared the doorway.

Harry shook his head as he watched the two witches disappear. "Here, follow me," he grumbled and walked into the kitchen. He leaned against the counter and gave Neville an appraising look. "So you and Susan, huh? When did this happen?"

"Oh." Neville blushed, but smiled and met his gaze. "Ginny sort of introduced us the other day. I guess you could say this is our first date. I really should thank her for that."

They heard Ginny's raised voice from the other room and chuckled. "Yes, she's wonderful, isn't she? Come on. Help me with getting this food out there."

"What in bloody hell are you doing here?" Ginny spat seconds after the door closed behind them. She wasn't sure if she was madder at Susan interfering or such an amazing moment being interrupted.

"Making sure you don't make a huge mistake," Susan shot back.

"What mistake?"

"It sounded like you were coming here tonight to break things off with Harry. By the looks of it I came just in time. He didn't look too happy when he answered the door," Susan replied with a raised eyebrow.

"What gave you that idea?" After everything that happened last night and today, breaking up was definitely not an option.

Susan reached into her pocket and presented the note Ginny had sent her earlier that day. She unfolded the parchment and read, "_I don't know what I was thinking when you two talked me into this. I can't go through with it and neither you nor Luna can make me. I have to end this madness._" She crumpled up the note and stuffed it back into her robe. "You can't make hasty decisions like that, Ginny! Talk to me or Hermione about it."

Ginny had meant every word of that letter, but not once did she ever mention breaking up with Harry. She planned on finding Luna on Monday, or hopefully before that, and telling her under no circumstances could she continue. She'd resign if she had to.

"I'm a big girl, Susan. I don't need to run my decisions by either of you before I do anything," Ginny huffed.

Susan gave her a look of deep annoyance, which probably meant that her patience had all but run out. "I never meant that you were inept, Ginny. I just don't want you to make any hasty decisions, especially when you're extremely emotional."

"I am not emotional!" she almost shouted, stopping her foot.

Susan sat on the edge of Harry's bed. "Sure you're not. That's why you're minutes away from a tantrum."

Ginny's eyes narrowed. She'd never taken it well when anyone alluded to her acting like a child. It was something her brothers had always done when they were younger.

The door creaking open halted the conversation. Harry hesitantly stuck his head through the opening and asked, "How's work going?"

From the look on his face, he didn't look too sure that they were actually working. Ginny was sure he could tell how angry she was. She was about to tell him that they had just finished and Susan and Neville would be on their way when Susan stood up and walked between her and Harry, blocking Ginny from view.

"We just finished. I'm sorry about that. Needed to get things done before Monday, you know?" she answered politely, as Ginny stood frozen in shock behind her. She never knew Susan had it in her to lie so well.

"I didn't mean to hold up dinner," she continued. "Which by the way, Ginny invited us to stay for. I hope you don't mind."

Ginny's jaw dropped. What did she think she was doing? Her mind scrambled to find a way to undo what just happened, but nothing worked. How could she directly contradict her friend without looking like a liar?

"Oh. Um, sure. I'm sure the two of you have other work stuff to, uh, talk about."

Ginny's feet refused to work, so her view of Harry was still blocked by Susan. She wished she could have seen his face. From what she heard in his voice, he was confused but was being polite. More polite than she would have been.

"Then why don't you two follow me. The tables all set. I'll just grab two more plates."

As the four sat down at the dinner table, Harry was nervous there'd be an awkward silence. He didn't know Susan very well. She was in a few classes and the DA back in Hogwarts, but always kept to herself and her Hufflepuff classmates.

Ginny's sunny disposition was now blocked by a storm cloud. He wasn't sure what was said when they were in the bedroom, but he was sure it wasn't good. Neville had been just as confused as he was when he found out they were staying. When Susan had informed him of the invitation, a comical mix of disappointment and relief battled on his face.

Eager to fill the silence, Harry turned to the one person at the table that appeared completely at ease. "So, Susan, how do you and Ginny know each other?" he asked, hoping to get the conversation started.

"Oh! Ginny and I work together at _The Quibbler_," she bubbled. "We really didn't know each other all that well until Luna had us working on an article together."

"Oh, don't remind me!" Ginny grumbled. "What a terrible article. Thankfully it never ran. I hate Luna's crazy articles."

Harry always looked forward to reading her articles. "What was it about?" he asked.

"You know Luna," Susan laughed. "She'll ask Ginny to do these –" she cut off, glancing nervously between Harry and Ginny. "–these off-beat articles."

Harry tried to catch Ginny's eye, but she was staring purposefully at Susan as she continued to explain the article. Assuming that Ginny was embarrassed about the article, he switched the topic of conversation to their days at Hogwarts. If Harry was surprised by Susan's outgoing nature, it didn't match his shock to see the affectionate way Neville gazed at her.

An hour later all awkwardness had vanished as they passed the time reliving their "glory days," as Ginny had called it, at school. Susan was telling them amusing stories about what went on in the Hufflepuff common room. "We might have appeared quiet," she had said, "but we were great friends and we knew how to have a good time."

"Well, Harry," Neville said, "I never knew you could cook. I'm glad you made enough for all of us."

"Don't worry about it," Harry laughed. "You always make extra when you're cooking for a Weasley."

The sound of a loud thud from beneath the table was followed by a yelp of pain and a utensil clattering against a plate rang through the flat. Harry glanced around the table. Neville was looking as confused as he felt, but Susan was looking at Ginny with a worried look on her face. He saw Ginny's face scrunched up in what looked like pain. Her shoulders were hunched forward towards the table top.

Trying to figure out what happened, Harry replayed that last minute of conversation in his head. As he reached his last statement, his heart dropped and dread washed over him. Had he inadvertently insulted Ginny? He looked to her for a sign, and was horrified to see her eyes watering.

Helpless, he looked around the table again. Neville continued to stare at Ginny with a terrified expression on his face. Susan, on the other hand, gazed disapprovingly at Harry.

He sent her a silent plea for help.

"Apologize!" she mouthed back.

That kicked him into gear. "Ginny, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean it like that."

Her head snapped up. "Wha? No, Harry I knew what you meant. Us Weasleys –"

"But I didn't mean it like that," he pressed. "It just slipped out. I wasn't thinking."

"Honestly, Harry," she argued. "It's fine. I'm not offended."

He could tell that she was trying to smile, but it was forced and she looked angry. He began to panic, thinking she was just saying that to avoid a scene. He wasn't about to let it go, if it meant she would continue to be angry with him.

"You're not fat!" he blurted out, sending a ripple of reactions around the table. Ginny's eyes opened wide and he heard Susan gasp. Neville started choking on his food. Harry wanted to sink into his chair. "Oh Merlin," he whimpered, burying his head into the palms of his hands. "This is all coming out all wrong."

When he looked up, he saw Ginny's hands covering her mouth and her shoulders shaking. Thinking she was crying, he shot out of his chair and knelt next to her. As he got closer to her, he looked into her eyes. They were dry and bright.

"I'm sorry," she whispered and tried to hold back a giggle. "This isn't funny, I know it's not. You just looked funny."

She grasped both of his hands tightly, trying to look serious despite the smile. "It's really ok, Harry. I'm not mad at all."

"Not at all?" he pressed.

"Not one bit," she insisted. "Now stop trying to fix something that isn't broken before you put the other foot in your mouth.

Still unsure of her feelings, he nodded in agreement and slid back into his seat.

"Well, I'm going to go use the loo," Ginny said and stood up from the table. "If you talk about me while I'm gone, only say good things!"

Harry watched her leave the room, wondering why she walked with a slight limp. He looked back at his dinner companions. Neville stared at the seat Ginny vacated, shell shocked. Susan still wore her slightly disapproving expression. Worried that Susan was still angry on her friend's behalf he whispered, " I didn't mean…I don't think…i_She's not fat!/i"_

"Tell her that, Harry!" Susan hissed back. "Make it crystal clear how wonderful you think she is."

"I did! She seemed ok with it."

"Still," Susan insisted. "Maybe I should go see if she's ok."

"No!" Harry protested as he jumped out of his seat and made his way around the corner. He didn't want Ginny to think he didn't care, especially if Susan was the one to fix things. "I'll go."

"Ginny," Harry hesitantly knocked on the door. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"Positive!" she called back. She sounded fine, but Susan made him doubt himself. He glanced behind him and saw Susan standing at the end of the hallway. She motioned for him to continue.

"Maybe we should talk about this some more." He hesitated, feeling awkward talking in front of Susan, but at her insistent nod he continued with, "I think you're beautiful, you know."

The sounds of things clattering against the floor of the bathroom and Ginny swearing carried through the door. Without stopping to think, he tried the doorknob and was surprised to find it unlocked. His foot barely crossed the threshold when he realized that this was the wrong thing to do. He was magically propelled backwards and the door was slammed shut. A distinctive click told him she had locked it.

"I'm sorry Harry, but really!" Her voice carried an exasperated tone. "You can't just…walk in on a girl."

Ginny bent down and picked up the things she had knocked off Harry's sink and winced. Merlin Susan kicked her hard. She finished peeling off her trousers and sat down on the edge of the tub to examine her shin.

iI'm going to kill her for this/i she thought furiously. The hard toe of her friends shoe had somehow cut her leg. She had hoped to find something to help her heal the wound, but his cabinets proved to be unhelpful.

She knew what Susan was trying to do. They had talked about the possibility of using the foolproof "Do you think I'm fat" argument in detail. Apparently her friend had thought this was the perfect opportunity to put the plan into motion.

Well, she certainly put an end to that plan. She felt a bit smug that she had successfully deflected the fight despite her friend's best efforts.

Now the only thing she had to worry about was cleaning up this cut. She flexed her leg and couldn't help letting out a small groan of pain.

By now, Harry was ignoring any helpful hints Susan was supplying. "You're right. Sorry. Again. He rested his forehead against the door. "I keep mucking this up. But I think that if we just talk about-"

A groan came from the other side of the door. He nearly tried to open it again, fearing she was hurt, but thought better of it. "This is an extremely awkward conversation to have through a bathroom door, do you know that?" she called.

"Probably, but-"

"I mean this in the nicest way possible, I promise. Please, for the life of me, shut your bloody gob! I'm not mad, but if you keep it up I will be."

Knowing when to quit, he sent out another apology, leaned silently against the wall across from the doorway and waited. Susan had disappeared around the corner to join Neville in the dining room.

After what seemed like an eternity, Ginny opened the door and leaned against the doorway with a raised eyebrow. Jumping at the chance, Harry pushed off against the wall and held out his hands in supplication. "You know I meant what I said before. Not the part about eating a lot – although there's nothing wrong with a healthy appetite." Harry inwardly smacked himself. Why didn't he have a filter on his mouth tonight? "You're beautiful. Perfect. I wouldn't change a thing."

She must have noticed his silent berating of himself, because a smirk formed on her face as she remained standing in the doorway. "And what if I gain weight, huh? Are you going to toss me to the side for some brainless Quidditch groupie?"

Harry took a step forward and held her hands in his. "Ginny, you've been gorgeous since you were thirteen years old," he echoed Neville's earlier words, "and you've only gotten more beautiful over the years. In fact, I thought it was impossible, but I every time I see you, you get prettier. You could shave your head or grow to the size of Madame Maxime, and you'd still be beautiful."

"Do you really mean that or are you still trying to dig yourself out of that unnecessary hole?" she asked softly.

He reached out and cupped her cheek. "Every word of it."

Ginny leaned into his hand and sighed. His heart began beating faster as he watched a slow smile form on her lips. They stayed like that, caught in each other's gaze until a crash from the other room startled them. For the second time that night, Neville had interrupted them, and it was beginning to wear on Harry's patience.

Sensing Harry's mood, Neville repaired the picture frame he knocked over and began apologizing profusely. "Oh Merlin, I'm sorry Harry. I'm all thumbs it seems. At least they're green!" He chuckled weakly at his own joke. "Er, why is the frame empty?"

Harry snatched the frame out of his friends grasp and tucked it on a high shelf away from clumsy hands. He still hadn't returned the picture of Ginny and him to the frame. "Just haven't got around to putting a picture in there."

Susan came to stand next to Neville. "I think we'll be heading out soon. Good night you two."

As they bade farewell as the new couple, Ginny warned Susan that they still had things they had to talk about regarding her latest article. Susan's face was unreadable, but then again who would look forward to discussing work?

After clearing off the table, Ginny rested against the counter and absently watched the scrub brushes cleaning the dishes. "I'd love to be a bug on the wall when Neville says good night to Susan.

Taking a spot next to her against the counter, Harry nudged her hip with his own. "I heard you were responsible for that."

"Hardly," Ginny confessed. "All they needed was a chance to talk. They did all the work themselves." She stifled a yawn. "Sorry. It's surprising how sleeping all day could make you tired."

"I thought you spent all day worrying about me."

"When I was awake I worried. I slept in because I didn't get much sleep the night before," she explained and gave him a significant look.

Harry's mind wandered to the conversation they were having before they were interrupted. "How long were you here last night?"

"Long enough," she answered as her cheeks flushed. Ginny ducked her head and her hair blocked her rosy complexion from view.

Not having any of that, Harry reached out and brushed her hair behind her shoulder. "Did I ever thank you for taking care of me last night?"

"You might have mentioned it," she said and turned to face him. Her cheeks were still red, but she seemed to get over that. "You really shouldn't thank me since I was the cause of all that. Still, it was fun to find out that you look like a four-year-old when you sleep. Complete with stuffed animal."

"Witch," he grumbled and tried to grab her, but she danced out of his grasp.

Ginny laughed and sauntered into the other room and picked up her cloak. "I hate to cut this short, but I should be going too. Early day and everything."

She shrugged on her cloak and pulled out her wand. Once she was situated she faced Harry with a thoughtful expression. "I noticed the plant I gave you looked a bit wilted. There's a pamphlet on what it needs to grow somewhere around here. Probably stuck to the bottom of the pot."

He nodded and made a mental note to look for it later. He didn't want to kill her gift.

"I guess this is good night." Even as she said it, she sounded reluctant.

"I'll owl you in the morning," he promised. Ginny gave him a tight hug and a lingering kiss on the cheek before stepping away

Harry wanted to tell her to stay longer, but she was right about it getting late. He remembered her telling Susan that she still had to owl her some things. After gazing at Harry for a few moments, she sighed and made her way to the front door.

Harry picked up his pace so that he caught her right as she reached the front door of his flat. They stood in the doorway of his flat as he wrapped his arms around her from behind and whispered in her ear, "Oh and Ginny? Don't sell yourself short. You're a thousand times better than any stuffed animal."

Immense satisfaction washed over him as he watched her blush one more time.


	8. Chapter 8: Bitter Sweets

The flat was quiet as Ginny sat at her kitchen table, sipping tea

Harry stifled a yawn as he slumped over his desk. After Ginny had left last night he hadn't been able to sleep. He didn't know what to think. When she was gone he started thinking about how close he came to mucking everything up with his big mouth. He knew Ginny said that she wasn't angry at his slip up, but he thought she was being more forgiving that he deserved. At first he'd been so angry with himself and his stupidity that he had paced the length of his flat and eventually had kicked the wall, putting a hole in the plaster. Finally he had calmed down enough to repair the wall and his broken toes. Unfortunately, the bruises didn't go away, meaning he had walked into work with a slight limp.

After that, he had slipped into his bed, but sleep eluded him. He kept thinking that that it would have been much easier if he had Ginny – or his own personal stuffed animal, as he began to think of her – with him.

These thoughts had stewed in his mind until early morning rays entered through his windows. Given up all hopes of sleep, he had showered and changed before dragging himself to his fireplace. He normally apparated, but he hadn't trusted himself.

He was contemplating locking his door and trying to catch a short nap when he heard his door swing open. Don't people knock anymore?

"Good morning!" came a chipper, sing-song voice.

Harry's head snapped up to see Ginny standing in the doorway. He jumped up so quickly that his thighs banged against his desk. _Two more bruises_ he counted. "Ginny! I didn't think I'd hear from you so soon. I mean, I happy you stopped by. I'm glad to see you, that is. You look great. How are you?" He clamped his mouth shut before he could say something else stupid.

"I got into work when I realized that I was done for the week." She gave him an unsure smile. "I hope you don't mind that I stopped by.

Harry could only stare at her. Something about her was different today. There was Ginny Weasley standing in front of him in pale lavender robes that faded into a floral print near the bottom. Her nails were perfectly polished, and not a hair was out of place. Overall, he had never seen her look more feminine.

Realizing that she was still standing there in the doorway looking unsure, he scrambled around the desk and said, "Mind? This was going to be the most boring day ever. Your timing is brilliant."

He gave her a tight hug that lifted her several inches off the ground and held her there before setting her back down. Ginny laughed at his antics and followed him as he walked back to his chair. She made her self at home, perched on the edge of his desk.

She eyed the empty sweets wrappers that littered his desk. He ate a handful of stuff he could find in hopes of getting a sugar rush to keep him awake.

"Maybe you want to lay off the sweets, Harry," she teased. "You want to keep what's left of that Quidditch physique, don't you?"

Harry glanced down at his form with a frown. He didn't think he was out of shape. He could prove to her just how in shape he was. With reflexes as smooth and quick as a panther, he wrapped his arm around her waste and hauled her onto his lap.

Ginny let out an "Oomph!" of surprised and splayed her hands across his chest in attempt to balance herself.

Ginny laughed at her shock and shook her head, her hair flying in both their faces. Harry closed his eyes and inhaled the sweet flowery scent.

"My, my my. This is a familiar position. What are we going to do _now_?" her voice was lower than he remembered.

"Now?" he squeaked. The beating of his heart increased and he readjusted his glasses. He hadn't planned what he would do after he grabbed her, but it vaguely involved locking and silencing charms on his office door. Damn it. Why was he always nervous when she was this close? Then again, he rarely had Ginny Weasley sitting on his lap. He cleared his throat and spoke in a more normal tone, "I mean, _now_?"

"Mmhmm" She played his hair. Oh, that felt good.

"Oh, umm, I don't know." Harry eyes followed Ginny's leg as she crossed it over her knee and slowly bounced it. "I get off at, uh, five. Maybe we can do something then."

_Shut up._

_Shut Up!_

_SHUT UP!_

"Come on Harry." She gave him a playful smile. "Don't you want to be spontaneous?" She leaned forward and whispered in his ear, "Don't you want to be _adventurous_?"

Harry shifted in his chair slightly. He must be dense. Here was Ginny. She was sitting on his lap, playing with his hair, and whispering very exciting things in his ear, and he was thinking about work?

His hands left where they were resting on the arms of his chair and came around to grip her waste. "When, Miss Weasley, have you ever known me to pass on an adventure?"

Ginny threw her head back and let out a throaty laugh of delight. "I knew you'd say yes. We're Gryffindors through and through, aren't we Mr. Potter?"

"You're right," he replied, an excited glint in his eye. "Let's go!"

"Go where?" she sat back in surprise.

"Why, Muggle London of course!"

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Ginny was no stranger to Muggle London. She had accompanied Hermione on numerous shopping trips and visits to her friend's parents. The reason why she had agreed visit here was to avoid her family. A simple trip down Diagon Alley could be disastrous. Ginny had never realized how large her family was until she was trying to hide from them. In fact, she was surprised she and Harry hadn't bumped into any of them already. The last thing she needed was for everyone else to find out.

After last night, she needed a day away from everyone else. She'd been furious at Susan. She was so mad that she almost hexed her when her friend Floo'ed to her flat after she left Harry's. After a long discussion, Ginny made it clear that she didn't have any intentions of breaking up with Harry and that under no circumstances was she to interfere ever again.

Knowing her mistake, Susan agreed quickly. She even offered to talk to Luna about canceling the article. She suggested that it might be easier if an outside party questioned it rather that Ginny. Seeing that her friend was trying to make amends, Ginny agreed. Plus it was one less thing she had to worry about.

Harry spotted an ice cream parlor as they strolled the streets of Muggle London, she agreed to stop in and have some.

"What do you want, Ginny?"

Ginny walked up to the counter and peered through the glass at the tubs of different flavored ice cream. She never had Muggle ice cream before! "Oh, umm, that one," she said pointing to the tub that read "Red Raspberry."

"Would you like any toppings, Miss?" asked the elderly worker. He wore all white and a funny paper hat and smiled genially at her.

Harry led her farther down the counter to where the toppings were. Shocked at the sheer number of options she looked at her choices. There were little round, brightly colored balls and something that looked like chocolate. Next to that there were small rubbery looking items that looked vaguely like bears, but weren't moving. She wasn't sure how much time she spent looking at all the toppings, but Harry finally cleared his throat and asked, "Decide anything yet?"

"What do the ants taste like?" she whispered.

"Ants?!" Harry exclaimed.

Ginny pointed to the section where small brown pieces of candy laid motionlessly.

Harry shook his head and chuckled. "Oh Gin, those aren't ants. They're sprinkles."

At her uncomprehending look he tried to explain. "They're sort of small bits of chocolate, but not really." He scratched the back of his head in confusion. "Forget it, they aren't that good anyway."

Ginny made a face at what she still considered to be dead ants covered in chocolate. She pointed to a random sweet to add to her cone. The worker looked grateful that they had finally decided and rang them up.

Dessert paid for, Harry led her out of the shop. Ginny huffed to herself, and wasn't sure what to do with this purse she had Conjured. Since they were no longer in the wizarding world she had Transfigured her clothes into a simple yet flattering blue sundress. Unfortunately, she had no place to put her wand. Harry had suggested she use a purse. She had seen Hermione use one every so often, but never found it necessary. Now she had her feeble purse in one hand and an ice cream cone in her other.

As they walked down the street, Ginny kept looking at the people passing by or flashy things in store windows. Her eyes darted around trying to take everything in.

"How's the ice cream?" Harry nudged her, drawing her attention back to him.

Ginny blushed and gave him a guilty look. "Sorry, I haven't even tried it yet. There's just so much to see!" She delicately licked the cone as Harry waited. A rush of a sweet taste filled her senses as the cold food melted in her mouth. "It's wonderful!" she gushed.

After that, it didn't take long for her to finish her treat and discard it in the remains nearest bin. "Harry, we have to go back there and try all the different flavors!"

He laughed at her enthusiasm.

"Absolutely. We can go everyday if you want."

"But then it wouldn't be special," she pouted. "How about every other day?"

"Deal." Harry pulled on her hand for them to continue their stroll. "So where to next on our great adventure, Sprinkles?"

She looked down at their joined hands. Hand holding was never something Ginny particularly enjoyed doing. In a way, it was more intimate than any embrace. Unlike stolen kisses in private, walking down the street holding hands was the same as announcing to the world that they were together. But the feel of her hand enveloped in his larger one stopped her from pulling away.

So what if they were walking down the street holding hands? They weren't Harry Potter, Boy-Who-Lived, The Chosen One and Ginny Weasley, youngest of seven and only daughter. To everyone else, they were some anonymous couple that they'll never see again.

She looked at Harry to see him smiling at her and she couldn't ignore the butterflies in her stomach. No. Today she was a young woman on a date with an incredibly sweet guy.

Ginny tugged on her hand a bit so he'd loosen his grip and moved her hand so that their fingers laced together. She wasn't sure what he had in mind when he had asked her to come, but she didn't mind. The day out seemed like fun. Maybe with Harry she'd have ireal/i fun. Hermione was great, but she always tried explaining what things were or telling her the history of a particular sight.

Something flashy farther up the road caught her eye. "What's that?" she asked Harry, pointing across the street.

"Oh, that's the cinema. It sort of shows a story of people's lives but we get to watch." Harry looked at Ginny thoughtfully. "Want to see a movie?"

Did she want to see a movie? That was like asking her if she was a Weasley. "Of course! What are the people doing?" Muggles were amazing!

"I don't know. There are a few things we can pick from. Come on, your choice."

After waiting for Harry to purchase the tickets and popcorn – which Harry insisted was a necessity at the movies – Ginny followed Harry as he entered a pitch black room and navigated his way through a row of seats. Unfamiliar with the layout, she stayed close to Harry but she couldn't ignore her curiosity and urge to investigate this strange place.

"Harry," she whispered, "why are we staying all the way back here? Are we not allowed closer?" She gestured to the row they were walking through. It was the last one in the entire room with a cloth covered wall behind them.

Harry didn't look at her, but seemed focused on finding the perfect seat. "Oh, you know, I just thought it'd be better back here. Its, er, easier to see. That is, if you're up close you have to crane your neck to see."

The answer was logical enough. She nodded absentmindedly at the response and settled into the seat Harry had finally settled on. It was odd, Ginny decided. They were sitting in a dark room facing an enormous blank wall. Were people going to come out and talk about their lives?

Her musings were interrupted when she felt the sleeve of Harry's shirt brush against her hair. She could feel his eyes on her and she tried to relax. For some reason she could not bring her self to look over at him, so she forced herself to look around the room and take in her surroundings. Hoping she appeared calm, Ginny mentally kicked herself. She didn't know why her moods kept shifting so rapidly. Outside, as they walked hand in hand, through Muggle London she was comfortable and a bit excited. But now, sitting in a dark, strange room she wasn't sure of anything.

In her peripheral vision, Ginny saw Harry's legs sprawled comfortably before him. The skin of her shoulder practically burned where his hand dangled inches from it. A cool draft blew around her from a vent somewhere above them. If she could retrieve her wand from her blasted purse she could Conjure up a light jacket. However, before she could feel around on the ground for her belongings, the door opened, briefly spilling light into the empty theatre as two elderly women made their way to a pair of seats. Ginny shivered in her seat.

She jumped slightly when Harry's hand rubbed up and down her arm.

"Be glad their not sitting by us. They'll be talking about grandchildren or cats the entire time," he said quietly, his breath tickling her ear.

"Yeah. Good thing," she replied lamely.

Disappointment filled her as his hand moved off her arm and returned to the back of the chair. There it stayed, inches away, taunting her.

"You know what I think?" he whispered teasingly.

"What?"

"I think you're going to love Muggle cinemas and becoming a movie-going, ice cream eating fiend. You'll be worse than your father," he continued conspiratorially.

She stared at him with her mouth open for a few seconds before they both collapsed into laughter. The older women shushed them from across the room, causing them to laugh further.

"You're terrible Harry Potter," she chided, but she couldn't hide her wide grin. Her nervous energy gone now, she settled into her seat and against Harry's arm.

"And you love it, Ginny Weasley."

Her retort was cut off by blaring music coming at her from all directions, more powerful than a _Sonorus_ charm.

Harry couldn't believe how excited Ginny was about seeing the film. They had looked at the posters outside the cinema and she had pointed to the one that had a couple embracing, claiming that they looked sweet. From his experience, he didn't think that would have been his pick, but he did say it was her choice.

Now, they were sitting inside the dark theatre that was nearly empty. He guessed that mid afternoon on a weekday didn't draw large crowds except for the over 70 population.

Looking over at Ginny, he couldn't help by smile. Her eyes were wide as she leaned forward in her seat, the bag of popcorn forgotten in her lap. He could hear her mumbling under her breath to the people on the screen. Only the previews were playing at this point. Perhaps he should have explained what movies were a bit more clearly. He stifled a laugh as some explosions and gun fire made her squeal and flinch.

He deftly flipped up the armrest that separated the two seats and returned his arm to its place behind Ginny. Thank Merlin the seats were comfortable. It was the first time he felt relaxed since last night. Opening credits for the film started playing, and Harry settled farther into his seat and stifled a yawn as the sugar he ate this morning began to wear off. He hoped it was good.

Blinking became unnecessary for Ginny once the movie started. She didn't want to miss anything as the story progressed. Who knew Muggles lived such fascinating lives?

A sigh escaped her lips and she leaned against the back of her chair. She couldn't lean back fully since Harry's arm was still there. She shot Harry a quick look to see his reaction, but her eyebrows shot up in surprise. There was Harry - head lolled back against the top of his chair, mouth open wide. A faint snore accompanied the deep, steady rise and fall of his chest.

Indignation swelled inside of Ginny. How dare he do this? Didn't he care about the lives of the people they were watching? Was this how he viewed dating and romance? And most importantly, why does someone always fall asleep on their dates?!

When a particularly loud snore escaped his mouth, she was overcome with the urge to poke him rather roughing in the side and give him a piece of her mind. Eyes narrowed, she took a deep breath to start her tirade when his hand gripped her shoulder and pulled her tightly to him like a child clutching a teddy bear. He settled further in his seat with a content sigh, never waking.

Pressed against his chest, Ginny's ire dissipated and was replaced by a recognizable fluttering in her stomach that she now attributed to being near to Harry. She hadn't been this close to him since she was trapped underneath his sleeping form and the familiarity of the situation did not escape her. It was hard to believe that it had been only two days ago. So much had happened this week it felt like a lifetime.

Feeling the warmth radiating off of Harry, Ginny thought hard. After last night and today, she could no longer deny that she enjoyed the time she spent with Harry. For the past several days, Hermione's question echoed in Ginny's mind and haunted her in her sleep. _Would she be interested in dating Harry if she wasn't on this damn assignment?_

She looked over at the man in question, who had since closed his mouth and stopped snoring. She knew she couldn't lie to herself and say she wouldn't be interested. She could have sworn that each beat of her heart pounded the word iYES!!/i repeatedly against her ribcage.

Ginny watched Harry's head lolled to the side again and she smiled. Ginny leaned her head down on Harry's chest and looked at the movie screen. He really was adorable when he slept.

"Damn," she whispered into the darkness.

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"What are doing? You can't believe _her_!!"

Harry's eyes snapped open at the sound of an incensed voice not far from him. Instinctively, he reached for his wand but was snapped back to reality when he realized where he was. Directly, to his left Ginny was leaning forward, on the edge of her seat, glaring at the movie screen. He didn't know how long he was asleep or if Ginny had noticed. Not wanting to know if she had, especially in her current state, he focused on other matters.

"Ginny? What's wrong?" Harry asked hesitantly.

"What's wrong? I'll tell you what's bloody wrong," Ginny hissed. She was practically seething in her seat. "That bint is ruining everything."

Without waiting for a reply she whipped back around to face the screen, slapping Harry's face with her hair in the process. "SHE'S LYING! DON'T YOU SEE THAT? SHE'S TRYING TO BREAK YOU TWO UP!!" Ginny shouted at the screen.

One of the old biddies who sat closer to the screen sent them a loud "SHHH!!"

Harry, who still remembered his first-hand knowledge of Ginny's rage, sensed an approaching disaster if he didn't do anything. Hoping to calm her down, he placed a placating hand on her forearm, but she shrugged him off. Ginny's fury was almost palpable.

"Oh belt up you old codger!"

"Don't get shirty with me, young lady!" croaked the woman as she struggled to turn around and face them.

Ginny ignored the woman's cries of outrage and continued to yell at the people on screen. Harry felt panic starting to rise inside. If anything happened to anger her more he had no doubt she'd be reaching for her wand. Seizing all his courage, he grabbed both of her shoulders. It was a good thing he did, for he felt her try and leap up from her seat.

"Tell me what's going on Ginny. If you don't then I can't fix it."

"She's a lying bitch, that's what!" she spat. Harry's eyebrows rose at her exclamation and looked over at the elderly women who were tutting disapprovingly.

"YOU BASTARD! SHE'D NEVER DO ANYTHING TO HURT YOU. HOW GULLIBLE CAN YOU BE?" she shouted at the image of a handsome man walking away from a crying woman.

Harry's mind raced as he tried to think of a way to calm the irate witch next to him. First he needed her to stop shouting and causing a scene or there'd be bigger problems to deal with but each idea that came to him was more ludicrous than the next. As the yelling continued, Harry did the only thing he could think of.

He kissed her.

It wasn't much of a kiss. He grabbed her by the sides of her face and held her in place as he firmly planted his lips over hers. Taken by surprise, her cries were cut-off mid sentence. Unsurprisingly, kissing an angry woman was not particularly enjoyable. Ginny shoved at his shoulders and when that didn't work she began tugging roughly at his hair.

Harry, however, didn't give up. Ginny was still angry but her screaming had stopped, so he counted that as a partial victory. He tried to move his lips gently over hers, but she seemed to have redirected her anger towards him and bit down on his bottom lip. A painful yelp escaped his lips. Realizing that being gentle would not work, Harry changed his approach. One of his hands slipped to the back of her neck and held her firmly in place as he gave her a bruising kiss.

His intensity seemed to have shocked her into submission but after a moment or two, her hands clutched the back of his shirt and dug into his hair as she returned the kiss. The passion of her kiss caused Harry to gasp. He slid his hands into her hair, not caring how messy it would make it.

His pulse quickened as he realized that they hadn't kissed since the Tornados game. Had it really been that long? He pulled her closer to him with a muffled moan and vowed not to let that happen again. Not ever. After a few more heated moments, Ginny's grip on him relaxed into an embrace and her kisses became more languid. Her lips met his softly, and the passion that had burned so greatly simmered to a slow, less frantic desire. Unhurriedly, they explored each other, Harry wanting nothing more but to kiss Ginny for the rest of the afternoon.

This kiss was different. It wasn't the blind lust they felt after their first date, or the short, hard kiss she gave him before running off after the Quidditch game. This was different. It was amazing. Harry wasn't sure what it was, but he felt it in the depths of his soul.

He was focusing his attention on her collarbone when he heard a dazed Ginny ask, "Harry?"

"Yes?" he stopped kissing her, but still held her to him, not ready to give up contact.

"What about those people?" She continued play with his collar as she rested her head on his chest. He idly wondered if she was listening to how fast his heart was beating.

He looked around the now empty theatre. "What about them?"

"Can't we try to help them? No matter what I tried, they didn't even listen to me."

"Oh Ginny," Harry sighed. He smoothed out her hair and planted a kiss on the crown of her head. "Those people were just acting. None of it was real. I'm sorry, I should have explained this better before."

"So none of that really happened?" She still sounded slightly confused, but none of her previous anger had returned.

"No," he confirmed. "Think if it like you were watching the events of a novel instead of reading it."

"Oh, okay." Ginny nodded against his chest. She looked up at him, the corners of her eyes crinkling because of her smile. "I think I like it better this way."

He looked down at her and continued to stroke her hair. "Why's that?"

Ginny pressed herself further into Harry and whispered in his ear, "Because now I can do this."

Their lips met again and Harry thanked the heavens that movies were indeed, not real. He wasn't sure how long they stayed in their embraced, but too soon for Harry's liking they were interrupted by a light shining in his eyes and someone clearing their throat.

Harry shielded his eyes from the bright light with one hand and protectively pulled Ginny close to him with the other.

"Is this them, ma'am?" the worker asked

"Oh yes, that's the girl who verbally assaulted me. The boy's no better, I tell you!"

Ginny's eyes narrowed when she heard the voice of the old woman, but his grip prevented her from moving.

"Sir," the worker said sternly. He couldn't be any older than seventeen. "Due to your disruptive behavior and obvious, uh, public displays of affection I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

They shared a glance and Harry could see Ginny pressing her lips together to keep from smiling. Before Ginny's laughter could get them in any more trouble, Harry pulled her to her feet and led her out of the aisle. As they passed the employee he could hear the short, blue-haired woman tutting at the situation. Nothing at this point could dampen his spirits, so he couldn't resist the smirk he sent her and gave the employee a cheeky wink. He didn't look back as they walked through the swinging doors.

They stopped just outside the doors and he squinted his eyes, overwhelmed by the amount of light that greeted him. He heard a soft snort of laughter and saw Ginny losing her battle to contain her amusement. Needing to touch her again, he pulled Ginny towards him and wrapped his arms around her. She buried her head against his chest and laughed. Her good mood was contagious and Harry felt his amusement rapidly bubbling to the surface, dangerously close to overflowing.

He looked over Ginny's head and saw the teenager who sold him popcorn leaning over the glass counter and looking at them like they were lunatics. That was the last straw. Harry clutched Ginny closer to him and sagged against the wall and gave in to his own laughter. This only seemed to spur more of Ginny's own sniggers, which were now to loud to be muffled by his shirt. Through laughter and gasps of breath he tried to calm her, whispering a breathy "shh."

She tried, Harry admitted, but not very hard. Finally, she leaned up and sunk her teeth down on his shoulder to stop. His hands tightened on her hips and he gritted his teeth. _Why my shoulder? Wouldn't her lip or her palm work just as well?_

Despite the pain, his shoulder seemed to be the right choice. She was panting and out of breath but was quiet. They stayed like that for some minutes before Harry was certain they were both calm.

Ginny's eyes danced mischievously and Harry's face felt split in two from how wide he was grinning.

"You sure know how to show a girl a good time, Harry. Is this what you normally do? Trap her in a dark room so you can snog her?" she teased, nudging him lightly.

"Only the pretty ones," he responded, waggling his eyebrows. Now that they were standing in a properly lit room, Harry noticed Ginny's swollen lips and mussed hair. He didn't want to know what his appearance was, but he could help but feeling a bit smug when he saw her state.

"Prat," she laughed and began tugging on his hand. "Come on, we better leave before they kick us out…again."

When Harry didn't move she turned around and eyed him curiously. Not knowing how to start, Harry scratched the back of his head and bounced on the balls of his feet.

"Maybe you should…I mean, when we were…I kinda…" he trailed off helplessly, afraid he'd offend her. Staring at the patterned wallpaper over her should he said, "Your hairs a bit…tangled."

"Oh," Ginny blushed. "_Oh _I'll just pop into the loo real quick."

He watched her quickly make her way to the restroom towards the back of the building. When she reached the door she glanced over her shoulder sent him a coy smile that sent his heart racing before disappearing into the bathroom.

Merlin, she's going to be the death of him.

"What a wonderful day," Ginny exclaimed, excitement in her voice. She was practically dancing as she crossed the small space in Harry's office.

Harry shrugged off his jacket and spotted basket of biscuits on his desk.

"Hey! What's this?" he said with a grin. He picked up a note that was attached to the basket and said, "It's from you!"

Ginny froze in horror as Harry read the note aloud.

_Dearest Harry,"_

_I wanted to show you how much I think of you. Now, I know I'm not known for my talents in the kitchen. I won't lie and tell you I got it right on the first try. These biscuits were a labor of love. Enjoy!_

_Yours,_

_Ginny_

Touched that she had made the biscuits he said, "This'll be a nice afternoon snack."

Ginny, whose eyes seemed to grow to the size of galleons, tried to scramble to the desk. He was quicker than her and grabbed the basket out of her grasping hands.

To his surprise, Ginny whipped out her wand and summoned the basket to her. It was halfway to her when he countered it with his own Summoning Charm. It slowly started making its way back to him. Slightly bewildered, he chuckled at her reaction. "What's all the fuss about?"

"Harry," she protested weakly. She put some more power behind her charm and it inched its way back to her. "We just had ice cream and popcorn. Don't forget all the sweets you had earlier. You'll ruin your dinner if you have any other snacks."

"Nonsense! Have you forgotten I grew up around Ron? You get used to eating junk all day." He smiled bemusedly at her. She really did seem worked up about this. Perhaps she was worried about her baking skills. Eager to reassure her, there was no way he was going to _not_ have a biscuit. He strengthened his charm, but instead of coming back to him it came to a halt directly between them and hummed.

"Really, Harry. I don't want you to get sick." Her voice a forced calm, but her eyes were frantic now.

"Honestly, Ginny. There's no need to be worked up about it. One biscuit isn't going to kill me. Besides, you worked hard on them."

Ginny grimaced at the last part. A look of blazing determination came on her face. He wouldn't have been surprised if she tried to tackle him or blow up the basket to prevent him from eating them.

She tensed up, looking like a cat ready to pounce when a voice came from the door.

"Look! Potter's got biscuits!" Ginny jumped, breaking her concentration. The basket flew towards Harry. He thanked the years he spent playing Quidditch for being able to successfully catch it without spilling any of the biscuits.

It didn't take long for a small queue of wizards to form inside his office. "Hey, Potter! This is some bird you've got here. You better keep an eye on her," someone called.

"Shut it Hodges," Harry shouted back, not missing the flirtatious wink Hodges gave Ginny. He felt better when he saw Ginny scowl at his coworker's comments.

"Alright that's enough free handouts," he all but growled. "The rest are for me."

He kicked his remaining coworkers out of his office after a chorus of "Aw's."

Harry made a production of placing the nearly empty basket of biscuits on his desk. "There. All for me," he smiled, eager to show her that he appreciated all the work she put into this. "There's nothing left to say besides 'Bon appetit'!

He was about to take a bite of one of the biscuits when movement behind Ginny caught his eye. Hodges and several other workers started running around the cubicles. He craned his neck to see one wizard spit his half chewed biscuit into a trash bin, while another chose a potted plant. iOh bollocks/i. He looked back at Ginny to see her worried, resigned face. There was no way he was getting out of this.

Slowly, he raised the biscuit to his mouth and sunk his teeth into it. Oh Merlin, it tasted like feet. He tried to swallow and get it over with but it had a chewy texture that wouldn't allow it. How does someone mess up biscuits? He dug his fingers into the side of his leg. _Four more crescent shaped bruises_. Pushing aside the urge to vomit Harry forced himself to chew and ultimately swallow.

Silently, Ginny conjured a goblet of water and handed it to him. He tried not to look to eager as he accepted the drink and took three long gulps.

Readying himself, he shoved the rest of the biscuit into his mouth and resisted the urge to spit it out. "Mmmm," he smiled, ignoring the crumbs that fell out of his mouth. _Good. Less I have to eat._ "This is good."

Ginny came closer with and odd glint in her eyes. She reached up and wiped some stray biscuits. "You're…beyond description, do you know that Harry?"

He wasn't sure what she was getting at, but the look in her eyes told him it was a good thing.

Harry gave her a silent nod, sensing the delicate nature of the moment. She sighed and wrapped her arms around him, resting her head on his chest. He tried to enjoy the moment, but he needed something to drink. Maybe if she wasn't looking he could refill the water goblet.

_Or maybe I should hex my taste buds off…_

When Ginny got back to her flat, she crossed directly to her desk and pulled out a sheaf of parchment. She called her owl over to deliver a note to Hermione.

Hastily dipping her quill in the ink, she scrawled,

_HERMIONE GRANGER,_

_I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!_

A/N: The biscuit scene is a small homage to one of my favorite shows: "FRIENDS." If you get the reference, kudos!

Also, if my timeline is correct this is taking place in 2003, which coincidentally was the year i How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days/i was released. Go figure! But instead of making Ginny lose her mind, I opted not to choose that. I didn't have a particular movie in mind, but I think what you heard from Ginny's shouts is a good enough clue as to what type of movie it is. And it's a pretty standard Chick Flick. Girl meets boy. Girl falls in love with boy. Other girl likes boy. Other girl causes problems. Boy leaves girl. Boy gets back together with girl. )


	9. Chapter 9: Confessions and Coversations

Rubbing the sleep away from his eyes, Harry stumbled into his kitchen

Rubbing the sleep away from his eyes, Harry stumbled into his kitchen. His stomach grumbled and he patted it absently as he searched for something for breakfast.

After deciding that he was in desperate need to go shopping, he settled himself at the kitchen table with a pitiful plate of dry toast. Shoving half a piece into his mouth, his eyes settled on the plant on his table. He frowned slightly, noticing its wilted appearance. He'd been diligently watering it every morning and made sure it received plenty of sunlight. Last thing he wanted was to kill the gift Ginny had got for him.

Then he vaguely remembered Ginny mentioning about directions for its care. Where did she say it was again? It wasn't in any of the drawers. He would have come across it in his feeble attempt to find breakfast. Harry shifted an old copy of the i_Daily Prophet/i _and noticed something peeking out from underneath the pot of the plant.

He pushed aside a vine and watched as the leaves rustled. If it wasn't a plant, he would have said it shivered. Gently, he lifted the pot and peeled the pamphlet off the bottom. He shook off the dirt and excess water that had escaped the bottom of the pot and laid the directions on the table. Slightly dismayed at its water-logged condition, he did his best to read.

Everything seemed extremely straight-forward, standard care maintenance for plants. Dejected, he turned the pamphlet over and rested his head in his hand before shoving the other half of toast into his mouth.

Flashing on the paper caught his eye. It was hard to read. The letters were distorted from the water, but the red flashing font looked important. Leaning forward and squinting his eyes, he tried to piece the words together.

_WARNING!! This plant not only feeds off of sunlight and water, but human affection. Due to this……..extremely important…..diligent…of attention. This balance……If mishandled…injury…-death._

Harry sat back in alarm. He didn't want to kill the plant! All he had to do was talk to it and it'd flourish?

He eyed the plant sceptically, recalling the way it responded to his touch. Hesitantly, he reached out and brushed one of the leaves with the back of his hand. This time it did shiver and one thin vine wrapped it self around his index finger.

Laughing, Harry picked up the plant and carried it into his bedroom. If this was what it needed to grow, he'd show Ginny just how caring he could be!

"HERMIONE!! Hermione, where are you?"

"I'm in here, Ronald!" came her muffled reply from the bathroom.

"What are you doing?" he asked, leaning against the door frame.

"Getting ready to go out. I won't be too long. I just have to pick a few things up and meet a friend for a bit," she answered, not bothering to face him as she tried unsuccessfully to tame her hair. Ron never understood why her hair bothered her so much. He thought it was wonderful and wild.

Giving up, she turned to face him and gave him a knowing look. "You're planning something. I know that look on your face."

He shrugged in what he hoped was a nonchalant way. "I don't know what you're talking about," he answered. After a pause he added, "I saw Harry the other day."

"And?"

He heaved a sigh and followed her into their bedroom. "And I think you're right about him needing to find someone."

He watched as Hermione froze, body stiff, hunched over an open drawer. "Oh? What made you change your mind?"

"He said he's seeing someone right now. Won't say who." He let out a frustrated sigh and collapsed onto the bed. "I don't like it, Hermione. She must not be good for him if he won't even tell me her name."

"What _did_ he say?" Her face was full of avid curiosity. He wasn't surprised. It was unusual for Harry to keep secrets about his love life from him.

"He seemed happy about it," he grudgingly admitted. "Got the impression that they've been out a few times. Apparently she's a looker but that's all he said. He was frustratingly tight-lipped about it."

He growled under his breath when he saw Hermione's smile. Didn't she know this woman could pose a threat to his plans?

"This is wonderful, Ron!" she gushed.

"What makes you say that?"

"Because it sounds like Harry's finally found someone that could make him happy. Don't you want that?

"You know I do. But we haven't even met her. She could be some horrid Quidditch groupie or some gold digger for all we know! I tell you he's hiding her for a reason. There's something wrong with her. He'd be much better off with my sis-" he cut off, furious at himself for getting carried away.

"With who?" Hermione asked with sharp eyes.

"No one. I mean, just someone we approve of, you know?"

"Oh Ron," Hermione sighed and walked over to him. She sat next to him on the bed and took his hand in hers. "We have to let Harry make his own decisions. He'll pick someone who's best for him. I'm sure when Harry finally introduces us to…this mystery woman of his we'll be pleasantly surprised."

Thinking of all the horrid girls Harry had dated in the past, Ron seriously doubted that. No. He knew who was best for Harry, and if his friend couldn't wake up and see what was right in front of him, he'd just have to do it for him.

Saturday afternoon was glorious, Ginny decided. She shrugged off her light cloak and used her wand to shrink it before stowing it in her pocket. The light breeze blew around her robes and caused strands of hair to flit in front of her face as she walked down Diagon Alley. The sun poked through the clouds sporadically, which suited Ginny just fine. In fact, it seemed to reflect her mood perfectly. Her day with Harry yesterday was near perfect, except for how it ended. She was so mad at Hermione she could spit.

She had written four different notes to Hermione but none of them properly expressed her wrath. This had only irritated her more since normally she excelled at creative ways to use profanity. Eventually she had realized it wasn't working because it needed to be done in person. In the end, the note she ended up sending was a pleasant note inviting her to lunch. It'd be more fun to ambush her this way.

Hungry after a morning of shopping, she settled down at a table outside a small café, grateful for the shade the colourful umbrella provided. Her bags, shrunken for convenience, lay on the cobblestone ground forgotten by her feet.

Ginny had just ordered her sandwich when Hermione arrived.

"You will not believe the hectic morning I had!" Hermione complained as she collapsed into the chair nearest Ginny. "Your brother was supposed to help me with some things around the house, but of course he makes an excuse about having to find someone to talk them and leaves. I had to do it all myself, and then I was running late and," she paused and took a deep breath. "Anyway, sorry for being late."

"That's fine, you'll just have to make it up to me," Ginny replied cryptically.

Before Hermione could respond, the waiter delivered Ginny's sandwich and asked Hermione for her order. Once he was gone, Hermione settled further into chair and said, "I hope they don't take long. I'm famished!"

Ginny cocked an eyebrow before reaching into her pocket and removing a small package. She enlarged it and took out a biscuit. Without any warning, she tossed it to Hermione, who caught it rather clumsily. Ginny stared at her friend with an unreadable expression and said, "Go on, have it. What are friends for, right?"

Ginny silently moved her glass of water out of reach and watched Hermione. Her friend gave her a grateful look and without hesitation her teeth sunk into the biscuit.

Grim satisfaction washed over Ginny. It was plain to see that it didn't take long for the foulness of the treat to reach Hermione's taste buds. She pulled a face, nearly gagging, and looked around for a place to dispose of the biscuit. Ginny smirked when Hermione realized there wasn't even a napkin within reach and she had no other choice but to either swallow it or spit it into her hand. She chose her hand.

"Yeck!" she exclaimed and stuck her tongue out in a feeble attempt to get rid of the foul taste. She took out her wand and Vanished the remains then quickly cast a cleansing charm on her hand. "That's an awful trick, Ginny!"

"Yes it is. Especially when it's given to someone who doesn't deserve it," Ginny countered as she scowled. "Besides, I figured you would want to appreciate your work."

Hermione's eyes widened. "Oh dear. You don't seem very happy with me." She tried to reach for Ginny's glass of water, but Ginny swiped it up and held it casually out of reach as she glared.

"How very astute of you," Ginny snapped.

Hermione opened her mouth to reply, but then shut it and shuddered and muttered to herself, "This is worse than that vomit flavoured Bean."

"You know, you disappointed me, Hermione," Ginny stated. She had yet to take pity on her and give offer her water. "Harry barely even shuddered when he tasted that. He ate the whole thing. I would've thought that you could have at least swallowed your one bite."

"Why are you so angry with me, Ginny? I thought you said that the biscuits were a funny idea when Susan suggested it a few days ago!"

"You're the smartest witch I know, Hermione. Why don't you tell me?"

"I assume the most logical answer would be that it's because I did it without telling you. But I swear I was only trying to help. When Susan Owled me that you were thinking of ending things with Harry, I thought I should do something to keep Harry talking to you. Or," she continued in a rush," it's that I did it at all and it kept you from ending it, but – OH!

Hermione stopped mid-rant and sat straight up in shock. "You saw him eat the biscuit! You were with him at the time. During the day! Susan just assumed – but she was wrong. Oh! This changes everything! You didn't want to break up with him, did you? You wanted to end the article! You have feelings for Harry!"

Ginny's eyebrows rose in shock. Hermione had told her a surprising amount of information in a very short period of time. It would seem that her two friends had been conspiring behind her back to keep this confounded article alive.

Against her will, she was impressed that Hermione had actually put everything together. She hadn't expected that.

"Ginny, I'm so sorry. I would never have – oh, I feel just awful. But this is great news! Wonderful, glorious news! When did it happen? What did he do? Was it romantic?"

Her eyebrows knotted in confusion as she tried to follow her friend's rapid questions. "Was what romantic?"

"Whatever Harry did to make you admit your feelings for him!"

"Oh." Ginny could feel her face heating and it had nothing to do with the afternoon sun. A slow smile spread on her face. "You know I planned on staying angry with you for much longer of a time."

Hermione waved her hand dismissively. "I'll do something to make up for it later. Right now you need to start talking."

Ginny's grin was wide now. It felt good to finally be able to talk to someone about what she was feeling. "Well, it wasn't one thing in particular. I guess deep down I always knew I never stopped caring for him."

Hermione swayed a bit with her hands clutching at her heart and Ginny didn't have it in her to roll her eyes. "When did you first _know_?"

"Again, I think I always knew. But I think I started admitting it to myself after I slept-" Ginny cut off, not knowing if she wanted to share that story with her friend just yet.

"When you what? 'After you slept'…? Merlin, Ginny tell me you didn't sleep with him already. It hasn't even been a week yet!"

"Keep your voice down!" Ginny hissed. She glanced around to see if anyone overheard. "The last thing I need is for all of Diagon Alley to think I'm a slag! No, I did not sleep with him. Really. How could you think that?"

"But you said-"

"After I gave him the trick sweet, Harry fell asleep on me and I sort of…stayed there for awhile."

When Hermione only responded a raised eyebrow, she added. "With him."

Nothing.

"In his bed."

Silence.

"Under the covers."

Avoiding her friends knowing smirk she continued. "But it wasn't just that. He just…he says the most wonderful things when I least expect. It catches me off guard every time. And then these looks he gives me. It makes my knees weak. One of these days I'm going to fall right over and break my leg, I just know it!"

Hermione had left shortly after prying almost every detail from Ginny. She peppered Ginny with questions about everything. What did he look like when he said this? How did that make you feel? Was it incredibly romantic?

She was halfway through her sandwich when a shadow of a person crossed her plate. Using her hand to block out the glare of the sun, she glanced up to see who her visitor was.

"Seamus Finnigan? What are you doing here?"

Seamus looked over her head into the café before taking a seat beside her at her table. "Can't a bloke take a nice stroll down Diagon Alley on a nice afternoon hoping to run into an attractive lass like yourself?"

He stretched out his legs and leaned back in his chair, his arms folded behind his head. He sent a bold wink her way and was the picture of overconfidence. He hadn't changed since Hogwarts. Susan was right, he's an absolute flirt.

She ready to shoot back a tongue-in-cheek reply but she noticed his attention was not on her, but inside the café.

"What surprises me," he continued, "is that no bloke is accompanying you on such a fine day. If you were me girlfriend I wouldn't let you out of me sight. "

"And you know I'm spoken for?" she asked with a raised eyebrow. She was aware of the fact that knew Neville knew she was seeing Harry, but was curious as to who else knew.

Seamus smirked and leaned forward. "I could see you glowing a block away. If that isn't a woman smitten, I don't know what is."

Her glass of water nearly slipped out of her hand at his observation. His words flustered her and she was scrambling for a reply. He ignored her spluttering and once again glanced inside.

"What I'm wondering is where he is. Is 'Tall-Dark-and-Handsome' hiding inside?"

Ginny decided his words were innocent, but the look in his eyes made her think that he knew more than he was saying. Well, if he wasn't going to ask what he was fishing for, she wasn't going to give it.

"'Tall-Dark-and-Handsome' isn't with me today. What makes you think that's my type anyway? What if I said I liked blondes with Irish accents?" she fished, hoping she'd get more information from him.

He threw his head back in mirth. "Don't get me hopes up. We both know you never had eyes for me. No, I think we both know where your eyes strayed more often than not."

Heat rushed to her face. "I'm afraid I don't know-"

"Do me a favour," he said seriously. "If you find something that's real, don't let any silly, petty things get in the way. _Fight_ for that happiness, Ginny."

Speechless, Ginny watched as Seamus reached over and filched a handful of crisps before standing up. "If this bloke is worth it, don't let him slip away."

He turned and walked away without another word and Ginny could feel her mouth hanging open. She sat motionless for several minutes after he had disappeared from her sight, replaying the conversation. His words echoed in her head, and the more she thought about them the more ominous they sounded. It was like he was warning her.

Slightly unnerved by the short conversation, Ginny gathered her belongings and began walking down the street once again. She wouldn't get answers mulling over this, and she wasn't going to let Seamus Finnigan ruin her Saturday.

After tossing her out her unfinished lunch, she made her way over to Flourish and Blotts. She had been browsing the New Arrivals section, reading the back covers for a new interesting book when she felt the presence of another person behind her. Without looking up, she shifted aside so the customer could pass by. When they didn't she looked up from her book with a frown.

"Can I help you?" she asked. She looked at the tall wiry-haired man in front of her. She assessed his size with some trepidation. He was tall and broad, practically blocking the entire aisle.

"Possibly. I was thinking that maybe I'd be able to help _you_," he replied with a confident swagger.

Ginny's frown deepened at his response. He looked vaguely familiar, only a few years older than herself.

"You're a Weasley, right? I remember the hair from Hogwarts, but I don't recall the rest of the package being so…appealing." The man leaned forward and all but leered.

Ginny's eyes narrowed at the comment. She wanted to figure out who this berk was before she kneed him in his most sensitive area. She took in his face and cocky smile for a few moments. Her eyes opened wide with dismay and disgust as recognition struck.

"Cormac McLaggen?" she asked weakly.


	10. Chapter 10: Pests and Pets

"Cormac McLaggen

"Cormac McLaggen?" she asked weakly.

Cormac's smile widened. "In the flesh." He spread his arms wide, showing off his form like it was on display.

Ginny fought the urge to wrinkle her nose in disgust. She remembered him vaguely from Hogwarts. While some of the girls in her dorm gossiped and giggled about him, Ginny always had the distinct impression he was more into himself then the girls he dated. From the looks of it, things haven't changed much over the years.

"How've you been keeping busy?" she asked. She really wasn't interested in his response, but she wasn't sure how she could excuse herself without being rude.

His smile widened. He took a step closer and plucked the book she held out of her grasp. "This and that, but I think I know of a few more exciting things we could do to…how did you put it 'keep busy'?"

Ginny frowned. "I'm sorry I think you must have misunderstood – "

"Listen, you're obviously interested – it's only natural, but here's the way I work. I don't normally ask women out. They come to me. But I like you. You seem like an elegant witch. Very attractive –"

"Excuse me?"

He didn't seem to hear her, or notice the indignation on her face. "So here's how it's going to work. I'm going to let you owl me."

"Now see here you little – "

"I'm completely single. I'm very intelligent. I'm great in bed. I make great money. Believe it or not, I'm a great catch." He braced his arm against the bookshelf by Ginny's head. She pushed herself into the shelf, trying to get as far away from him as she could.

"In fact," he continued, not noticing her at all anymore. "I'm probably one of the only catches left in England."

Despite the situation, Ginny had to choke back a laugh. Her amusement died though when she saw his hulking frame moving closer to her.

Harry walked through Diagon Alley with a bounce in his step. He had spent a good portion of the morning talking to Ginny's plant and was pleasantly surprised to see it beginning to perk up. At first he felt foolish talking to a plant, but then he start telling it all that's been happening between him and Ginny. It was nice to talk about it – even if it was to foliage.

Currently he was making his way through the crowds to the grocers so he could replenish his food supplies. He wasn't sure when he'd be seeing Ginny next, but he wanted his pantry stocked in case she wanted him to cook another meal for them.

He was just passing the bookstore when he thought he saw a flash of red. He'd recognize that colorcolour anywhere. He stopped his progress to see which Weasley it was. His smile only grew when he realized it was Ginny. She was browsing through a selection of books, completely oblivious to her surroundings.

His smile disappeared when he saw a man approach her. Not knowing if she'd appreciate him storming in and telling the git to bugger off, he waited to see what would happen. Ginny looked minuscule next to the wizard's larger frame and it made him uncomfortable. Logically he knew that she was more than capable with a wand, but his size made him wary.

The stranger shifted to the side and Harry watched as he coiquaffed his hair arrogantly. Harry's eyes narrowed when he caught the man's profile. He'd recognize that grin and swagger anywhere. Anger began to swell inside Harry and a protective beast awoke within his chest. He didn't want McLaggen anywhere near Ginny.

_His_ Ginny.

He took two steps forward and noticed Ginny's scowl. Slightly relieved that Ginny wasn't amused by McLaggen's presence, he paused and waited to see what would happen. He could tell that she was growing more and more impatient and was content to let the scene play out. Having a female dismiss McLaggen would be more amusing than stepping in himself.

His thoughts changed, however, when he saw McLaggen advance on her and cage her against the shelves. Not wanting Ginny to know he had been spying on her, Harry shifted to the right and was directly in line with McLaggen through the open door. As fast as lightening, he whipped out his wand and shot a spell the twins and discovered during his fifth year.

He was about to shift closer to the door to observe the results of his hex when a hand clapped his shoulder. Harry turned around to see the face of his best friend.

"McLaggen, what do you think you're doing?" Ginny asked. She braced herself, ready to send her knee flying into the bastard's crotch.

"I'm trying to kiss you because I'm sexually frustrated."

"What?!"

He stopped his descent on towards her lips and bore a confused look. "I mean, it looks like i_you're/i_ sexually frustrated."

Indignation swelled inside her. "Now see here. I have never – "

"It's alright, love. I probably couldn't do much for you anyway." His eyes widened slightly and he shook his head, as if to clear it.

Not sure what was going on, she used his momentary distraction to slip out from where his arms had trapped her. "Well, it was nice…catching up, but I really have to – "

"I suck my thumb at night!" he declared loudly, interrupting her.

There was a pregnant pause where the two of them stared at each other in silence before McLaggen's eyes widened.

"Er, that is I meant to say was that I slept in my mother's bed until I was nine!"

Ginny's mouth dropped open in shock, too stunned to laugh. Browsing customers looked up from their books at his exclamation.

Before she could react he tried again, "Heh. Just a little joke I have." He paused and stiffened once again and shouted, "I OVER-EXAGGERATE MY SEXUAL PROWESS!"

This time Ginny did laugh, along with the young sales witch behind the counter. McLaggen froze in horror before clamping his hand over his mouth and fleeing.

"Hiya, Ron. What brings you to Diagon Alley?" he asked, shifting his body so Ron was forced to turn away from the bookshop. This offered Harry a clear view of the front window where he could still see McLaggen standing next to Ginny.

"Just some errands.," Ron shrugged. "I've been meaning to pick up something for Ginny."

"Ginny?" Harry asked, glancing away from the shop.

"Yeah," Ron gave a small smile. "I saw the new Harpies shirt the last time I was here and I've been meaning to pick it up for her."

"Special occasion?" he probed. He knew her birthday wasn't for several weeks. Did he forget something important?

"Nah.," Ronhe shoved his hands in his pockets and bounced on the balls of his feet. "She does so much for Hermione and me that I wanted to get it for her. She's great like that, you know? Very loving."

"Hmmm," Harry murmured distractedly. Was that movement in the bookshop?

"Yeah. She's wonderful. You should see her with all our nephews. I don't know how she got to be so good with kids being that she's the youngest."

"She's great with them," Harryhe agreed. He'd seen her at the Burrow enough times to see how well she took care of her younger family members.

"Sometimes I worry about her. Working in such a cut throat industry. I don't want her taken advantage of, especially since she's grown up to be so pretty."

Harry felt his palms start to sweat and was uncomfortable with the direction the conversation was going. He couldn't agree with Ron. Then his friend would be suspicious and ask too many questions. But if he did the opposite then he'd dig himself a hole for when he wanted to tell Ron he was dating his sister.

Realizing Ron was waiting for a response he said, "I wouldn't worry too much about Ginny. She has the brains to match her beauty." His gaze flicked back to the shop, missing the gleam in his friend's eyes.

"Say, Harry. Hermione and I have a lot on our plates the next few days. Would you mind stopping over to Ginny's and giving her the shirt for me?"

Harry looked at Ron's extended arm and up to his face and smiled. "Anything for a friend."

Before Ron could respond, a strangled squeal was heard and as one the two friends turned to look at the entrance to Flourish and Blotts. Cormac McLaggen tumbled out the store falling on his face, one hand still clamped over his mouth. Seconds later a young sales witch exited and shouted "THIEF! THEIEF!"

Ron shot him an amused glance and said, "Duty calls," before walking forward.

A small crowd had formed around the fallen frame of McLaggen, but Harry didn't join it. Instead he turned around and walked towards the Leaky Cauldron with a spring in his step.

Ginny slipped out of the bookstore unnoticed. The crowd was too busy wondering why a grown man was trying to steal a trashy romance novel to care about anyone else leaving the store. She laughed to herself as she thought about the day's strange occurrences. Wanting to get her mind off of it, and return to her previous mood Ginny headed to a store that always lifted her spirits.

It didn't take long for her to make her way to the Magical Menagerie. She quickly crossed the street, and slipped inside the store. The small building was as noisy as ever, and the tinkling of the bell on the door wasn't noticed amidst the din.

Ron always hated it here. Said it smelled like droppings and he couldn't hear himself think. Ginny always replied that it was because he _didn't_ think. Except for her Pygmy Puff, Arnold, she never had a pet of her own. She felt visiting the store was beneficial for everyone. She was able play with a few of the animals, and in return they weren't bored sitting in cages all day.

As usual, she admired Hector, the tortoise with a jewel-encrusted shell. Apparently it had spent the past dozen years in the shop because no one was willing to spend the galleons he cost because of the jewels.

She made her way over to the basket that held a new litter of puffskeins. Carefully, she scooped up one of the custard-coloured fur balls and cradled it to her breast. She cooed and stroked its soft fur, and it began to purr. She instantly felt calmness wash over her.

She wasn't sure how long she stayed like that, gently holding the puffskein. She often lost track of time when she was in here.

Something soft brushed against her leg, and Ginny glanced down to see which wayward creature wasn't where it was supposed to be. A gorgeous Siamese cat circled her robes, briefly stopping to rub against her calf and purr. Quickly, Ginny returned the puffskein to his litter and gently scooped up the feline.

"Well, aren't you a," she lifted the cat up further and peeaked underneath it, "handsome thing."

He batted her nose and nuzzled her cheek in respond. He probably was the shopkeeper's cat, she decided, eyeing the collar. It was a brilliant shade of blue that matched the shade of his eyes exactly. On it was an ornate P carved into a tag.

"How are you today, Ginny?" called the shopkeeper. Sporting her heavy black spectacles, the witch behind the counter didn't spare Ginny a second glance. She was busy examining one of her rabbits, which appeared to be wearing a silk top hat instead of turning into one.

"Oh just fine, Madame Foxx," she replied as she made her way to the front of the store, feline still in her grasp.

Madame Foxx placed the rabbit back in its cage and turned her attention to Ginny. "I see you've met Pollux," she said with a gentle smile.

"He's just gorgeous," Ginny gushed. "I've never seen a more beautiful cat."

Pollux seemed to soak in the praise, for he curled comfortably in her arms and purred loudly, and Ginny absently stroked his cheek.

"He seemed to take a liking to you," Madame Foxx replied, watching the cat bat Ginny's hair playfully. "I've never seen him take to a customer like this. You seem to have a gift when it comes to animals."

The woman leaned her arms on the counter. "Are you sure you don't want a pet from this store, dearest? Any of the animals would be thrilled to go home with you."

Ginny wanted to recite her normal speech of why she wasn't looking to buy anything but she glanced down at the cat cradled in her arms. "I know this is probably impossible, but is there any chance Pollux is for sale?"

Madame Foxx sighed and removed her spectacles and stowed them in a pocket of her robe. "I'm sorry Ginny, but I can't just sell you Pollux."

Ginny nodded and fought the disappointment from showing on her face. "Of course, Madame, I knew it was a long shot but I figured I'd ask."

"That is to say," the witch said, moving further along the counter. She bent down and picked up another Siamese cat who looked grumpy from being awoken from his nap in the sun. "I can't sell you Pollux without his brother Castor. They have an unusually strong bond, you see."

At the sight of his brother, Pollux struggled out of Ginny's grasp and hopped onto the counter. The two batted each other a few times with their paws playfully.

The two were nearly identical except for Castor's pale green eyes. Hesitantly, she approached the two and ran her hand down Castor's back. He seemed startled, as if he had just noticed her presence.

"You are just as stunning as your brother," Ginny breathed. The feline seemed to puff out his chest in pride and pressed his head against her hand as she stroked him. He wasn't as affectionate as his brother but she couldn't resist.

"I'll take them."

"Excellent," Madame Foxx exclaimed. She began bustling around the store gathering some items. "I want you to take these supplies as a gift from me. You've been coming in here for so long, I wouldn't feel right."

Ginny tried to protest, saying that it wasn't necessary, but the witch wouldn't hear it.

"Now," instructed the witch, "Castor and Pollux have collars with their initials on them. Castor, in particular, takes offenseoffence if you call him the wrong name so take care not to make that mistake. He's a wonderful creature, but a proud one too. Take good care of them, dearest, and do come back soon."

Nodding hastily, Ginny pushed open the door with her back, two new companions in hand.

When she finally made it back to her apartment, she was ready for a nap. Navigating Diagon Alley with her shopping bags, two newly acquired cats, and all their belongings was more work than she realized. So initially as she rounded the corner of the hallway that led to her flat, she failed to noticed an extremely bored Ron slumped against the wall waiting.

It wasn't until she was closer that they both saw each other. Startled, Ginny almost lost grip of her belongings while her brother straightened up and pushed off of the wall that had been holding him up.

"It's about time you showed up," he said impatiently.

"Hello to you too, Ron." Castor hissed from his seat in the basket Madame Foxx gave her.

Ron jumped back and stared in horror. "What is that?!"

"A tea cozycosy." She didn't bother to hide rolling her eyes. "What do you think it is? A cat. I bought a cat, Ron."

He didn't see the face she made since his gaze was glued to her basket. "Why are there two of them?"

Her arms were starting to ache from holding all her packages, the Feather Light charm had worn off awhile ago. "What is this all about?" she asked, shifting the packages in her grip. "Did you come here to see me or badger me with questions?"

Finally realizing his sister was struggling with her load, took some of her packages from her. Ginny noticed with amusement that he was careful not to get too close to Castor and Pollux, who in return watched him with wary eyes.

"Sorry," he said once she led them into her flat. "I've been bored out of my mind waiting for you to come back." His own sentence seemed to have reminded him of the original purpose of his visit. "Do you know how hard you are to get a hold of lately?"

Ginny avoided his gaze and busied herself with getting her two new roommates settled. The brothers seemed to be interested in exploring their new home. Once she placed the basket on the ground the hopped out and took off towards her bedroom. "I'm sorry. I've been usually busy this past week." She hoped that explanation would be enough.

He didn't press any further, but settled on her couch. If his posture was any indication, Ron wasn't planning on going anywhere for awhile. His shoes were already off and his feet were propped up on the arm.

Seeing him stretched out like that brought back memories from when they still lived at The Burrow together. It made her realize how much she missed Ron this past week. Leaving her packages on the table for later, she nudged Ron over and squeezed under his legs to sit next to him.

"How long were you waiting for me outside?"

"Long enough," he shrugged. He was too casual for Ginny to relax. He'd been so annoyed when he first saw her, and Ron always made it known that he didn't like to wait.

"Ah. Well, you're here now, so that's what's important," she said, patting his leg. "How've you been?"

"Not to good," he started, idly picking up one of the cat toys that had fallen onto the floor. "I listened to the Cannons game the other day. Did you know they played the Tornados?"

Ginny laughed and nudged his leg. She replied, "The Cannons always lose. Did you really think they'd lose to the best team in the league?"

"Oi!" Ron protested, his expression sour. He sat up to look at his sister. "What's all this talk about them being the best team? I thought you were a Harpies fan."

"I am, but there's no denying the stats for the past few years," she explained and gave a mental eye roll. Ron was always so defensive about the Cannons. She should have known better.

"The Cannons are just as good as any other team – even your precious Tornados," Ron insisted. "They just need their confidence back. They had a new offensive plan that was nearly foolproof."

"Then there must be a lot of fools on the team," Ginny said, purposely needling him. Enjoying the way she knew he'd react. They hadn't done this for years. "Because they were barely able to catch the Quaffle let alone carry out any semblance of plays!"

"You sound like you were there!" he accused.

"What are you talking about?" Sshe shifted to a more defensive stance.

Ron stood up and produced a bright orange piece of cloth and tossed it to her. He watched for her reaction with crossed arms.

Slowly, she unfolded the fabric, already knowing what it was. She was holding Ron's shirt with Harry's Tornados badge stuck to the front. She held it up and made a show of examining it, mainly stalling for more time. Her mind raced as she thought of all the implications. The first was that Ron was in her flat and going through her stuff. Normally that would have been the most important part, but she pushed that aside. Was this just about his old shirt or did he know about her date with Harry? She remembered the short conversation she had with Harry about Ron questioning him about his love life. Did he neglect to mention that he told her brother about them? A little warning would have been nice!

Her postureposter was stiff as she absently gazed at the offending garment, but she saw a glimmer of hope. The edges of the badge were curling away from the shirt. The sticking charm was wearing off.

Acting on the slight chance that Ron was unaware of her dating Harry she deftly grabbed a corner and tugged. Her heart sang as she was met with almost no resistance and the badge peeledpealed neatly off.

Needing to hide the Tornados merchandise, she tossed the shirt back to her brother. As his attention shifted to the airborne shirt she quickly shoved the badge between the cushions. "I'm not sure how showing me your Cannons shirt proves that I'm a Tornados. What am I supposed to be looking at?"

"Oh nothing important." His voice dripped with sarcasm. "Just that you defiled my shirt." He held up the now innocent looking shirt.

Ginny hoped she looked confused. "Ron, I'm sorry. I'm not following you."

Ron glanced down at the shirt in his hand, did a shocked double-take. "Where did it go?" Ginny wasn't sure if he was talking to her or not, so she chose to remain silent. He continued mumbling as he examined his beloved shirt. "I know it was here…couldn't take it off…was ruined…no charm worked…defacing…WHAT DID YOU DO WITH IT?!"

She was sure that the last part was directed towards her, so she stood up with her hands held out in supplication. "I'm sorry I had your shirt for so long. Did I stain it?"

He collapsed back onto his spot on her couch. "I could've sworn…" He gave her a long look before he spoke again. "Look. I know you had my shirt. And I know there was a Tornados badge on it. I spent the better half of a day trying to get it off. I don't know how it got on there and I certainly don't know f_why_, but I know it was there. The only problem is, is that I can't _prove_ any of this.

Knowing that he had all but let this drop, she sat next to him and asked, "You seem to be really worked up about the game. More so than usual. You didn't bet on the Cannons again, did you?"

When she saw his shoulders slump some more she knew the answer. "Oh Ron! Against the Tornados? How much did you lose?"

"Nothing!"

"So you won? How'd that –"

"No, I didn't win," he admitted somewhat shamefully. "I showed up at Harry's office and I was a bit…er, fired up. He told me not to worry about it."

She couldn't help but asking, "Your bet was with Harry?"

"Yeah," he gave her a contemplating look before adding, "He's a really great bloke. Looks out for his best mate, you know? He knew how much Hermione would've hated that bet."

While Ginny was busy trying to figure out what Ron meant by that, there was a knock at the door and Ron was already halfway across the room to answer it.

"It's okay, Ron. You don't have to answer the –"

He had already swung it open. Ginny quickly moved to her brother's side to see a wide-eyed Harry standing in her doorway.

"- door."

A/N: For this chapter, my take on Cormac was a combination of waht we see in HBP and some other sources. One being Gaston from Beauty and the Beast (gotta love him) and the other being this wacko I heard on my local radio station. Some girl called in and gave the disc jockies a voice mail this guy left her. It was too priceless not to use it in here. In fact, I didn't change much of it. But i'm giving credit, where credit is due. thank you crazy Demetri. I'm including the link to it here. If you want to be amused by probably the most delusional man on earth go to this link! z100./pages/p2articlearchive.html?feed136656&article3898951


	11. Chapter 11: Squabbles and Switcharoos

Harry stood outside the door to Ginny's flat. They didn't have any plans to see each other tonight, but after what had occurred in Diagon Alley earlier he had wanted to pop by. Truthfully, he wasn't quite sure when they decided to see each other next. He had been too preoccupied with trying not to vomit from those wretched biscuits to clearly remember how their date had ended the other day.

Running his hand through his hair, Harry took a deep breath. He could admit to himself – and only himself – that Ginny still made him nervous. She kept him on his toes, in a good way. His thoughts drifted back to their afternoon spent in a darkened cinema and smiled. _Oh yes,_ he thought. _In a very good way._

Smiling slightly, he raised his hand and knocked confidently on the door. He could hear scuffling from the other side of the door and frowned. He was about to knock again when the door swung open.

Instead of the petite frame of Ginny Weasley, Harry was staring wide-eyed at the much larger frame of her brother, who seemed to be just as surprised to see Harry. Seconds later Ginny rushed to her brother's side and froze at the sight of him. _I certainly know how to make an entrance_ he thought, wryly.

"Erm, hello, you two."

"Hi Harry," Ron shifted uncomfortably and refused to meet his eyes.

"Yeah. Hi, Harry," Ginny echoed.

The two siblings stood motionless in the door, wearing identical expressions of shock. Had the situation been any different, he might've laughed.

"What, uh, what brings you here, Harry?" Ginny asked. She raised her eyebrows and he assumed she was trying to tell him something important, most likely involving her brother still not knowing about them. However, if there was specific message she was trying to get across it was lost to him. She had since moved on to widening and narrowing her eye, and occasional head tilts. Mostly it looked like she was arguing with herself in her head.

Harry realized that he still needed to answer her question. Why was he there?

_I was hoping we could snog some more like we did the other day_.

No, Ron wouldn't like that.

I _was checking in to see if that imbecile McLaggen tried anything that would make me go hex his bits off._

Definitely not. Ginny would not appreciate that.

_I was in the neighborhood_.

Not believable.

_Dropping something off for Mrs. Weasley_.

Not carrying anything on him except for his wand and the shirt Ron gave him for….oh.

"Actually, I was stopping by to drop something off."

Ginny's eyebrows rose, threatening to merge with her hairline. Ron, on the other hand, wore an expression reminiscent to the time Hermione found his collection of inappropriate magazines.

Harry eyed his best friend. All his years working as an Auror trained him to school his features, but friends and family have always been able to read him like a book. He watched as a flush slowly crept up Ron's neck. It didn't move fast or turn his face the horrid shade of puce when he was angry. No, he was definitely up to something.

Harry glanced at Ginny to see if she had noticed her brother's strange behavior, but she was still gazing at him expectantly.

He started to fumble in his pockets to retrieve the shrunken shirt Ron gave him that afternoon when Ron spoke.

"Merlin, Ginny where are your manners? Are you gonna leave Harry standing in your hallway or invite the bloke in?"

Startled out of musings, Ginny jumped. "Oh. Right, right. Of course." She stepped aside, pulling her brother with her.

Harry entered her flat and took in his surroundings. He had only been there once before when he picked Ginny up before the Tornados game. At the time he had been too preoccupied – with nerves – to take in the décor. Like his place, she had decorated it with individual pieces instead of sets. Unlike his flat, however, Ginny had somehow made it look tasteful and welcoming. Unknowingly echoing Ron's thoughts, Harry was reminded of The Burrow and felt a wave of warmth flow through his body. The pieces were worn and unique, but must not have cost much, which was curious. He knew from pervious conversations with Ginny that Luna paid her well.

His internal musings were cut short when Ginny's flying form was slammed into his body.

"Oof!" To save both of them from being thrown to the floor he wrapped his arms around her and stumbled back from the impact. _She's a living breathing bludger_.

He looked down into her startled brown eyes that were impossibly close to his. He must have pulled her against him when he caught her. As the shock wore off, Harry noticed that every inch of her was flush against him and he could feel his body's reaction to it.

"Hi," he breathed.

"Hi." Her voice was just as breathless, but he wasn't sure if it was from her fall or due to their proximity. He hoped it was the latter.

"Oh wow, Ginny! I'm so sorry."

Remembering they weren't alone, Harry jumped away from Ginny as if she had burned him. Unfortunately, she wasn't expecting it and was still using Harry for support. She tumbled forward and collapsed on the floor. _Brilliant, Harry. Just brilliant._

"Merlin! Ginny are you alright?" Harry rushed forward and dropped to the ground next to her. "Here, let me see if you're hurt."

"I'm fine, Harry. Thank you. Just a little shook up."

"Are you sure? At least let me check your ankle." He gently pulled her legs into his lap and was gently pressing random parts of her feet, ankles and calves, not quite sure what he was looking for. _Maybe if I keep poking random places I'll find something_.

"Hell, Gin that was right clumsy of me," Ron apologised. Both Harry and Ginny looked up to see an anything but apologetic Ron standing over them. In fact if Harry didn't know better, he looked rather proud.

"I guess you're lucky Harry was here to catch you. All that professional Quidditch training probably gave him a lot of muscles."

From her prone position on the ground Ginny growled, "Are you implying that someone would need a lot of muscles to catch your lump of a sister?"

_Well that certainly wiped the grin off his face_.

"What? No! No, what I meant is, you should be glad someone like Harry was around otherwise you'd have fallen flat on your face." When Ron saw that this didn't have a positive effect on his sister he added, "Which you know was entirely my fault because I'm a huge moronic prat?"

"Huge, moronic, clumsy dimwitted prat," Ginny grumbled under her breath.

"Besides," he continued as Harry groaned mentally. Ron just didn't know when to quit. "I'd never call you…er, lumpy. You're quite fit. Right, Harry?"

Harry glanced at Ginny, but she paid him no mind. In fact, the look she was giving her brother at the moment would have had him running for the hills with his hands protectively covering parts he held dear to him. Quickly, he tried to think of a way to dispel the tension in the room. The last time he needed to calm Ginny down he all but snogged the life out of her. While he wouldn't mind a repeat of that, he doubt Ron would appreciate him mauling his baby sister.

Ginny was now turning a brilliant shade of red and Harry knew he had to act soon. A wicked thought crossed his mind and Harry hopped to his feet and extended his arm to Ginny. Absentmindedly, she accepted the proffered hand and he hauled her off the floor. Before she could get her footing, Harry bent down, grabbed Ginny around the middle and threw her over his shoulder.

Ginny let out a high pitch squeal that vaguely reminded him of a sound a wet cat would make. She made half-hearted attempts and breaking free and when she realized she wouldn't escape his hold, settled for thumping his back with her fists. Harry stood up straight and swung around to face Ron, who was wearing a look of utter shock on his face.

"You're right, Ron," Harry crowed. "Light as a feather, this one. Why I can hardly feel her." As he finished talking, Ginny landed a hard fist against the small of his back and he fought to hide a grimace. He stumbled a bit and his knees buckled under the force of the blow. Giving a feeble chuckle he said, "Small but mighty, eh?"

"Harry Potter, unhand me now you...you…you snotty-nosed baboon!"

"Er, Harry I'd put her down if I were you."

Harry pulled his eyes away from where he was gazing at the way Ginny's robes were stretched across her shapely bum. Ron had backed away with his hands up protectively in front of him. Realizing the severity of his predicament, Harry shifted around so that he was facing Ginny's sofa.

"I'm sorry Ginny. I will never manhandle you again," Harry said as he placed her gently on the sofa. Before he stood back up, he whispered soft enough that only Ginny could hear, "That is, unless you ask me to."

When he stood back up, he gave her a slow, deliberate once over. Ginny's face was flushed and her breathing was erratic. Whether that was in anger or excitement, he didn't know. Harry didn't stay close enough to find out which one it was.

He moved to sit in the plush arm chair, but Ron slid into it just as Harry was approaching. Biting back a sigh of frustration at Ron, he turned back around and eyed where Ginny was still lying haphazardly across the couch. Taking a deep breath he crossed the few steps back to the couch hoping Ginny wouldn't hurt him too much.

~*~

Ron slumped in his seat and tried not to appear to be sulking. He had done everything he could think of to bring Harry and Ginny closer together. They seemed to be comfortable together. The three had sat in Ginny's flat for well over an hour talking and laughing. Sometimes he even thought he saw one of them shoot the other a less than platonic glance.

But that wasn't good enough for Ron. He wanted sparks, fireworks even. Maybe if Ginny thought Harry thinks about her, it'd plant an idea in her head. He sat, contemplating a way to work it into the conversation. They were reminiscing over their time playing Quidditch at Hogwarts.

A smile spread across his face as an idea came to mind. He couldn't believe he had forgotten.

"Hey, a Harry, didn't you come here to give Ginny something?" he asked innocently.

Harry shot him a questioning glance, which he ignored. Shrugging, Harry dug through his pockets and removed a shrunken package. He had just returned it to its original size and looked like he was about to explain why he had it, when Ginny interrupted.

"Harry, you didn't!" The limited edition Harpies official practise tee? How did you get it? Every time I've looked for it they've been out!"

Not wanting Harry to ruin his plan, Ron interrupted his friend's response and said, "Don't be think, Ginny. Harry here's got connections through his job."

His sister stopped examining the shirt and he watched as an embarrassed blush crept up her neck. "Oh that's right. I forgot. Either way I don't care _how_ you got it! This is amazing!" Ginny exclaimed.

Ron had been hoping for his sister to at least give Harry a hug to express her gratitude. However, he was disappointed. She all but ripped the shirt from his hands and hugged it to her chest.

He frowned at his sister, who was oblivious in her bliss. In his frustration he was focusing on Ginny he had missed the small smile that had spread over his best friends face.

Ginny sprang lightly from the couch, shaking her brother out of his musings. "I'm going to go try it on right now!" she crowed as she practically danced out of the room.

Ron tensed up as he watched his sister disappear behind her bedroom door. He knew he would have to explain why he gave Harry the credit for the shirt. He chanced a glance at his friend, waiting for the interrogation he was sure would follow. However, it didn't come. Harry wore a slightly dazed look on his face as he stared at the spot where his sister disappeared. Ron wasn't sure what to make of his friends expression. Things didn't work out as planned. Then again, Ginny had the ability to catch people off guard and leave them befuddled.

Not sure what to say, Ron tried with a less then stellar line. "Guess she like the shirt."

Harry blinked once. Then twice. Finally turning around to face Ron he said, "Uh, yeah. Guess she did. Why'd'ya let her think it was from me?"

"Well I had to do something, didn't I? Ginny looked like she wanted to box your ears earlier. Just dong some damage control for my friend," Ron said, surprising himself with such a good cover. Sometimes he even impressed himself.

"You think?" Harry's eyebrows furrowed as he glanced back at the bedroom door. "It looked to me like she got over it."

"You know women, Harry," Ron replied confidently. "You think they've gotten past something and they bring it up again. But don't worry; I think I sufficiently distracted her. Women are always suckers for gifts."

"Yeah, I guess so," Harry replied, not looking to confident.

Before Ron could respond, the door that led to Ginny's bedroom flew open and Ginny seemed to be walking on air as she returned to her guests. "Oh Harry, its just perfect!" She stood between the two friends and gave a twirl, showing off her new favourite shirt.

In a display of strength that would have surprised Ron had he not grown up with her, Ginny grabbed Harry's wrists and hauled him to his feet. He had to hide a bark of laughter when he saw the shock in his friend's eyes.

A satisfied smile graced his face when he saw Ginny throw her arms around Harry, chanting 'thank you.' Harry on the other hand, he noticed with a small amount of disappointment, didn't seem like he knew what to do. He kept glancing at Ron with unreadable eyes and patted Ginny on the back awkwardly.

Not wanting his sister to scare Harry away with her enthusiasm, Ron cleared his throat and said, "It looks great, Gin. Harry has a good eye."

When she heard her brother speak, Ginny stiffened and all but jumped away from Harry. He wasn't sure what that was about, he was just grateful Harry looked like he could breathe again.

"It really is a great shirt," Ginny said, tugging on the bottom so she could get a better look at the black and green logo. "At least it doesn't clash with my hair like the Cannon's uniforms.

Always been defensive of his team, Ron grumbled, "Yeah well maybe Harry should have gotten you a Tornados shirt since they're your new favourite team."

Ginny walked over to him, and despite the fact that she had to tilt her head considerably to look in his eyes; she jutted her chin out defiantly. "Shove off, Ron. You know that's a load of rubbish."

"Rubbish? You expect me to believe that when you – "

"I said shove off! It's not my fault you're such a sore loser and your team plays like a bunch of toddlers!"

"Er," Harry attempted to intervene, "I'm a bit parched. Anyone want something to drink?

"What like when you were a toddler?" Ron shot back, ignoring Harry's question. "Like when Charlie took you for a ride on his broom and did a dive? You cried for a hour, saying it was too scary!"

"No one? I guess I'll go get something. Ginny, do you have…um, nevermind I'll uh, I'll go look myself."

"I was three, you git! I shrieked because he started me, and then he gripped me so tight I had bruises on my stomach for a week!" Ginny shrieked.

Harry slipped from the room unnoticed by the squabbling siblings.

Once inside the small kitchen Harry took a deep breath. Pretending that nothing was going on between Ginny and he was harder than he thought. Not being able to touch her was killing him, not to mention the predicament he was put in when literally threw herself into his arms just a few minutes earlier.

He stood leaning against the counter for a few minutes, the rouse of getting something to drink forgotten, and tried to collect himself for round two. It didn't take long for him to be shaken from his musings by shouts from the other room.

~*~

"Still sticking to that story, are you?"

"Yes I am," she declared, her eyes narrowed and teasing. "Just like you've stuck to the story about having dust in your eye after the twins put a spider in your bed when you were ten!"

With his fists clenched at his sides, Ron took a step towards his sister. He'd never hit her, but it was tempting. If this were one of his brothers the jesting would have been reduced to a wrestling match already. Acting on his more childish impulses, Ron quickly grabbed his younger sister and threw her in a headlock. There was something to be said about being over a foot taller than her. As Ginny flailed her arms about, trying to break free, Ron doing what he knew would annoy her the most. Giving her a noogie.

"Ron!" Ginny shrieked. "Get off of me you gangly hippogriff!"

"Not until you say Godric."

"Never! Now get off of ME!"

Ron absently enjoyed how Ginny's voice became almost unintelligible by the end of the sentence. He couldn't remember the last time they got into it like this. "Wrong answer, Gin!"

"Ron I swear…I swear on Merlin's…wand…I will murder you in…in your sleep…if you don't stop this," she panted. She was out of breath, but she was still putting up a good fight. In spite of his size advantage he struggled to keep his hold on her. _Merlin, this girl is wriggly._

Before he had a chance to respond, his body was forcefully ripped away from his sister and pinned against the wall. Despite being nearly a head shorter, Harry's arm was pressed against his breastplate, immobilizing him.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" seethed Harry.

Ron glanced behind Harry, and saw Ginny staring at his friend with her mouth open, like she had never seen him before. Looking back at the other wizard, he nodded. "I, uh…"

"I leave you alone for two minutes and this is what you do to her?"

Ron had never before seen the look Harry had in his eyes. If he hadn't known him since they were eleven years old, Ron would have though his best friend was about to throttle him. Then again, maybe he was. "Wait, Harry, you don't…"

"Enough! I don't want to hear it."

Again, he glanced at his sister, but she seemed to be staring at Harry in a daze. Knowing he wasn't going to get any help from her end he said, "Maybe I should just go."

Harry stared at him for a few moments before backing away. Ron ran a hand through his hair and took a deep breath.

"I'll just…I'll go fresh up and I'll be on my way."

When he didn't receive a response from either of them, he quickly made his way towards her bathroom, leaving his sister and best friend rooted where they stood.

After stalling a few minutes in the bathroom, Ron cautiously opened the door, not sure of the scene he would return to. Ginny could be a brat at time and he knew exactly how to push her buttons. The least she could have done was explain that there was nothing behind what was going on. Just some good natured ribbing. Ron felt slightly frustrated about the way things happened. He knew Harry never really lost his hero's complex but this was a bit extreme. As he stepped through the door he heard a quiet hiss from down the hallway. Curious, he made his way towards the bedroom. On the floor, at the foot of Ginny's bed were the two…things Ginny referred to as cats curled up on their bed.

With a wicked smirk he walked up to the two felines. Kneeling down in front of the bed he stroked the head of one of the cats. It leaned into his hand, and Ron examined the two. They were nearly identical, and Ron didn't know how Ginny would be able to tell them apart. It was then that he noticed the two ornate tags on their collars. An idea popped into his head. It was immature sure, but harmless.

After a few minutes of coaxing, and a few scratches from one of the cats Ron succeeded in switching their collars. He wasn't sure how long he'd wait until he told his sister that she'd was referring to her new beloved pets by the wrong name, but he was sure he'd know when the time was right. And in the mean time he'd enjoy himself. _Serves her right for letting me take all the blame._

Not even bothering to say his goodbyes, he apparated home.

~*~

Neither Harry nor Ginny seemed to have noticed Ron's exited. They still stood where he had left them. Harry staring at the wall where he had his best friend pinned minutes before, and Ginny next to him, staring at his profile.

Eventually, Harry turned to look at Ginny. He wanted to apologise on Ron's behalf but wasn't sure how. When he had seen Ginny at the mercy of her brother, who towered over her in height, he lost his ability to think. Thank Merlin he didn't try to hit Ron.

He wasn't able to utter a word of condolences though. The minute he turned to face her, Ginny had grabbed his collar and hauled him down to her. For a split second, Harry feared she might hit him. His worries were vanished when he felt her lips claim his. It was fiery, passionate, and over before he could respond properly. She ripped her mouth away from his, panting heavily.

"Do you even know how sexy you looked?" Ginny breathed.

"Sexy?"

Still gripping his shirt, Ginny slowly walked towards him and Harry had the feeling of being stalked. Involuntarily, he stepped backwards, and Ginny had him pinned where her brother had been minutes before. "Manly. Stupid. Sexy. Overprotective. Stimulating. And you did it for me. Whatever you want to call it, it was hot."

Ginny's eyes were wild and unfocused, and she still hadn't regained her breathing. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't slightly intimidated and turned on at the same time. His arms slide around her waste and pulled her flush against him. "Stimulating?"

She just nodded, her hands released his collar and started rubbing his chest and shoulders. His breath hitched and her eyes locked on his parted lips. He wasn't sure who moved first, but the next thing he knew, he was involved in the most mind blowing kiss he'd ever experienced. Every time he kissed Ginny, it was a new experience and this was no different.


	12. Chapter 12: Memories and Magazines

**Chapter 12 Memories and Magazines**

~*~

With a yawn Harry stretched and buried himself farther into his pillows, unwilling to give up the battle of staying asleep even as morning was calling him. It was Sunday and according to him, he deserved a lie in. Harry silently cursed not doing anything to block out the morning sunlight the night before, but refused to search for his wand to cast the charm. He rolled onto his stomach to find a more comfortable spot and slid his hand beneath the pillow.

He emitted a small yelp as something sliced into his skin between his thumb and forefinger. Muttering an oath, he grabbed the offending object and was surprised that he had forgotten placing it there. The night before he had fallen asleep looking at his most prized possession these days – the sole picture he owned of himself and Ginny.

He had taken to carrying the photo everywhere, although he'd never admit it to anyone. He wondered if he was being pathetic about it but he was beyond the point of caring. Over the course of the past two days, the picture had changed. Ginny still sat by Harry's side on the wooden steps leading to the backdoor of The Burrow. He felt the familiar flutter in his stomach as he looked at the picture. He knew if he watched long enough Ginny would take a break from waving and reach over to move some of the fringe off Harry's face. Every time she did that – and he had watched the display many times already – the photo version of himself would give her a soft smile and tuck a piece of hair behind her ear that, to this day, always seem to escape its place behind her ear. He remembered that earlier that day she had made a comment that he needed a haircut, teasing him that if it got any longer she would plait it for him. Mrs. Weasley overheard her daughter and offered to trim it the next day. Seeing the smile on Ginny's face, he immediately agreed.

Just as he was thinking of this, the two in the photo started the pattern of fixing each others hair. His eyes widened slightly as he watched himself lean over and whisper something in Ginny's ear. In reply, she blushed and rewarded him with a small smile that made his heart race.

Still clutching the photograph, Harry rolled over in his bed and was unable to stop smiling. He began to replayed the events of last night after Ron had left. Harry thought his evening with Ginny had started off exceptionally well, and he'd be lying if he said that snogging _wasn't_ a part of it. Sure, there had been the occasional bumps in the road or surprises, but if he had learned anything in the past week it was that being with Ginny meant to expect the unexpected. After Ginny had mauled him against her wall – which he freely admitted was a bleeding turn on – they eventually made their way to the couch. Things were progressing nicely until he felt sharp nails digging into his shoulder blades.

He had pulled away from Ginny in pain, wondering what had gotten into her. It was only then, when his movement was impeded by her hands tangled in his hair that he realized it wasn't her nails scraping along his back. Not knowing what was causing him so much pain Harry had whirled around and upended the creature taking residence between his shoulder blades.

A strangled wail that followed a satisfying thump came from behind the coffee table and Ginny had in turn toppled Harry to the ground in her efforts to get to whatever monster it was that had attacked him. In the end he found out that it had been a cat. A cat! Apparently, Ginny had acquired not one but two cats that afternoon and neglected to tell him. Honestly, how hard was it to say, 'Oh by the way I saw two of the ugliest cats I've ever seen and felt bad for them so I took them home'?

However, when he found out that Ginny thought they were _absolutely gorgeous_ he was glad that he hadn't said anything about their appearance. However, he wasn't to glad about watching Ginny fuss over the startled cat for the fifteen minutes following being thrown across the room. It took him the entire time to realize that he was having mutinous thoughts about the feline because he was jealous of it. Even his subtle hints about needing his back healed when unnoticed. From what he overheard of her crooning, Ginny thought the cat probably thought Harry was attacking her and was trying to defend her. Thankfully she was too busy coddling the ugly thing to notice his eye rolls.

Harry sighed and turned towards his new Snuggle Plant and extended his hand. One long vine had snaked his way out of the pot and curled itself around his finger. He had gotten into the habit of talking to the plant about anything related to Ginny. He knew it was weird, and if any of his friends found out he spent his free time talking to foliage they would try to get him committed to St. Mungo's – except Neville, that is. But who was he supposed to talk to? Ron? Hermione? Seamus? Besides it was the only thing he owned, besides the picture that was still in his free hand, that connected him to Ginny.

Settling further into the bed, Harry spoke softly to the plant. He told it about inconsequential conversations he had with Ginny, described the way she would bite the side of her lip when she was worried about something, and anything else he could think of. He even sulked about the entire incident with Ginny's cats. Somehow, and Harry was still trying to figure out how, (although he secretly thought it had something to do with Ginny biting her lip) she had convinced Harry to take one of the cats home with him. According to Ginny, she was worried that their bond to each other might be a bit too strong and some time apart would be beneficial. As he gathered his belongings and was preparing to leave, Ginny had instructed him to take to take Pollux. Apparently he was less moody. Nodding in compliance since she started biting the corner of her lip again, he scooped up the cat with blue eyes and a "P" on his collar, getting a few scratches for his trouble.

As if on cue, there was a hiss from the corner of Harry's bedroom. If this was the less temperamental one, he would have hated having to take Castor.

He continued on, deciding to focus on more pleasant things from the evening. Before he left, he had made plans with Ginny to return the next afternoon. According to Ginny, they were due for a lazy day in, just to be by themselves. Before he knew it, Harry drifted off to sleep, thoughts of what he and Ginny could to do pass the time flitting through his mind. His arm still stretched towards the plant and as he slumbered. As he fell into a deeper slumber he did not notice the Snuggle plant curled itself further up his hand.

~*~

"Tell me again, why we're doing this."

"Because, Harry, the carpet's comfortable"

"Oh. Right….And it's a great way to check for cobwebs on your ceiling."

"…"

"Ow! What was that for?"

"For suggesting I'm lacking in my cleaning spells."

"Hmm. Well I don't see a speck of dust in sight, so perhaps it was a compliment?"

"Maybe. Why are you so far away? Scoot over."

"Better?"

"Mmm, much. The carpet might be comfortable, but you're the perfect pillow."

"Is that what I am to you now? You're personal pillow?"

"Yep, do you have a problem with that job responsibility?"

"Not particularly. I guess I can add it to my resume."

"You better not! Not unless you clarify that you're _Ginny Weasley's personal_ _pillow_."

"Duly noted."

"…"

"You know if you keep making that face it'll freeze that way."

"Oh yeah? How do you know that?"

"Didn't you know? I'm the Chosen One, Ginny. I know everything."

"Really. Well, that would mean that you know what _this_ means."

"Here I thought Mrs. Weasley had raised a nice, respectable, gracious young lady – I'm amazed."

"I'll tell Percy you think so highly of him."

"….Brat."

"So tell me Potter, what else do you know?"

"Hmmm. I know if I touch you right there…"

"You wouldn't"

"Wouldn't what?"

"Harry you know I'm very sensitive!"

"You are?"

"Yes!"

"So then If I do _this_ you might – "

"HARRYYYY!"

"…"

"That was a low blow, Potter."

"Oh come on! It's cute to see you squirm and squeal like a piglet."

"…"

"What are you doing?"

"Finding your ticklish spot, that's what."

"Oh. Well I don't think you're gonna find one."

"I will. Trust me, I will. Everyone has at least one ticklish spot."

"Honestly, I don't have one – hey! What are you up to now?"

"For someone who claims to know everything, you'd think you'd know I was taking off you're shoes."

"Obviously. But why?"

"Did that nose bleed a few days ago affect your memory? I'm _attempting_ to find you're ticklish spot."

"Oh well trust me, its not there."

"I'd like to figure that out for myself thanks."

"Ginny. Ginny, please don't. It's really a waste of ti – taaaah – time! Ginny stop! GINNY!"

"AHA!"

"…"

"Oomph."

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I think so."

"I'm so sorry. It was a reflex. When people touch my feet I just sort of…kick."

"It's fine Harry. You're the one who told me to stop."

"Come here."

"Are you going to play nursemaid now?"

"Only to you, Ginny. Only to you."

"Come here, Harry and give us some sugar."

~*~

Harry laughed as he entered Ginny's small but comfortable kitchen. Ginny had sent him in there to retrieve some Butterbeer. As he searched through her icebox Harry couldn't help but smile and remember how he learned Ginny was so ticklish.

_Harry sighed in relief as he finally made it to The Burrow and sat on his trunk in the middle of one of the home's hallways. His stay at the Dursley's seemed dreadfully long. While he wasn't sure if he was ready to see everyone after the way he behaved at the end of the year after the battle at the Ministry of Magic, but he figured it was better than sitting in solitude at the Dursley's. _

_He was about to continue making his way up the stairwell when he heard swift footsteps approaching him from behind. No one knew he arrived at The Burrow yet, besides Mrs. Weasley who greeted him at the door. It was an uncharacteristically quiet welcome for Mrs. Weasley, or any of the Weasley's for that matter. She seemed to understand he still needed time to grieve. So she sent him up to his room that he was to share with Ron with a fierce, protective hug and a comforting smile that only a mother could provide. _

_Harry didn't want anyone to see him upset, not after the way he acted last year with all his moods. He quickly stood up to say hello to whoever was there. He turned around to see who it was and – _

"_Oof." _

"_Oh!" _

_Before Harry could register what happened, he was lying flat on his back staring into a pair of bright brown eyes. _

"_Harry!" Ginny said, surprised evident in her voice. "When did you get here?" _

"_About fi-five minutes…ago," he choked out. Ginny was still lying on top of him. She was light, but her arm was caught between them with her elbow digging into his stomach. _

_With her free hand she began to lift herself off of Harry, but paused when she reached a half kneeling, half push up position. Her eyes narrowed, but weren't focused on Harry or anything else in particular. She cocked her head to slightly backwards; listening to something Harry couldn't hear. Her left hand was pressed into the floor next to his face, holding her up while the right clutched something protectively in its grasp. Harry tried not to squirm beneath her, and prayed none of her brothers walked in on the scene they presented._

_Ginny cursed under her breath and glanced up and down the length of the hall before sitting back on her feet, between Harry's sprawled out legs. Glancing once more around her, Ginny pulled the collar of her shirt away from her neck. In one swift motion, with her other hand, she deposited whatever it was she was holding within the confines of her shirt. Harry blushed and tried to look anywhere but where the object was placed. _

_He started to push himself up into a sitting position, but Ginny moved quicker. She pushed him back down with one hand and pinned him in place with a stare. "Keep your mouth shut, Potter," she hissed then added, "if you know what's good for you." He was too scared to register his shock at her strength. _

_Harry wanted to ask her what he had to keep his mouth shut about, but didn't dare. He knew from experience the Weasley temper and from what others had told him, Ginny was the worst of the lot. Instead he nodded dumbly watching her stand up and brush herself off. He imitated her movements, not quite sure what to do. _

_Before they had a chance to lapse into an awkward silence or Ginny had time to leave, Fred and George ran out of their room into the hallway. They looked slightly frantic and when their eyes fell on Ginny they wasted no time hurrying over to where she and Harry stood. _

"_Ginny, what have you been doing?" Fred demanded to know, rather than asked. _

"_Saying hello to Harry," she said, motioning with one hand to where he stood. _

_The twins noticed him for the first time and nodded their greetings to him. Apparently now was not the time to exchange pleasantries. They turned their attention back to Ginny. "Come off it. We don't mean what you are doing now. Have you been going through our stuff?" _

_For her part, Ginny looked absolutely bewildered. "Do you think I am that mad? I think I know better to go into your room, let alone go through your things. I don't fancy being permanently transfigured into newt just because I stumbled across a half finished invention of yours." _

_They didn't seem convinced. They continued to stare at her, as if waiting for either the words "guilty" or "innocent" would appear flashing, across her forehead. _

_Ginny sighed. "Why are you even asking me this?" _

"_The prototype for our latest invention is missing." George narrowed his eyes at his sister. _

_Ginny raised both eyebrows in response, looking genuinely interested. "You better find that soon, before Mum does. Could you have left it around the house somewhere?" _

_Harry would have believed her performance, if he hadn't seen her drop something down the front of her blouse just minutes ago. He fought a blush as he glanced at where the prototype was hidden. Thankfully the twins were focused on their sister. _

_Fred and George didn't seem to believe her either. "Yeah, we're going to find it alright," Fred grumbled, grabbing her by the wrist. _

"_Hey!" Ginny cried in indignation. _

_Fred began feeling around Ginny's ankle through her trousers while George felt around her waist. "Ginny, hold still. Stop squirming!" _

"_I can't help it," she huffed, "You know I'm ticklish." _

"_Fine. Then we're doing this the hard way." They swung her around to face the wall and she threw her arms out to brace herself to keep from falling._

_For his part, Harry watched in utter fascination. Despite the many summers he spent in the Weasley's presence, he had never seen an exchange quite like this. _

_Ginny was now forced to face the wall, hands still flat against it with her feet spread apart. Harry thought she looked like a Muggle perpetrator about to be searched by the police. He wasn't that far off either. _

_Fred patted Ginny's sides, feeling for anything hidden while George stood next to her, making sure she didn't move. Fred then dropped to his knees and patted her legs from ankle to thigh. _

_Harry wasn't sure why Fred had to check there. It was pretty clear that there was nothing there, judging from how tight her trousers fit. Hoping he wasn't blushing again, Harry diverted his eyes. _

"_Bloody hell. What's going on? Harry? When'd you get here?" _

_Harry and the three siblings turned to face Ron who had just come up the stairs. _

"_Apparently," Ginny spoke, her head still facing the wall, "these two are having a bit of bad luck in the dating department. They have had to resort to feeling up their sister to get their jollies." _

"_Ginny!" the three brothers cried looking shocked. Fred had jumped back from his sister as though he had been scalded._

"_Oh, this is ridiculous!" Ginny said, sounding completely exasperated. "Look, I don't have your bloody trick. You've completely humiliated me and have seen that I don't have it! What else do you want to know? The dates of my monthly cycle?" At that all the boys in the hallway spluttered, but Ginny continued on, ignoring their embarrassment. "Or would you like to search my room? It will give Ron a change to rifle through Hermione's knickers."_

"_Hey!" Ron shouted and Harry had to bite back a snort. He was out of the crossfire and planned on staying that way. _

"_Oh shut up Ron," Ginny spat and turned towards her other brothers to look pointedly at them. "I am getting very tired of telling you I didn't do it, but I'll say it one last time. It. Wasn't. Me. I," she shot a quick look at Ron, "have no reason to take it. For, I would have waited until _my_ best friend came so we could enjoy it together." She gave the twins a significant look. _

"_Now if you excuse me, I have to do some chores in the kitchen. If you haven't forgotten, I was given extra work after being accused of a prank I didn't pull off." Ginny pushed past Fred and George and when she passed Harry she raised an eyebrow at him, daring him to comment on what he just witnessed. _

_He could only stare back at her in shock at how she was able to manipulate her brothers. She was amazing._

_As soon as Ginny rounded the corner the twins sprang into action. In a flash, they had Ron pinned against the wall. Harry was sure that if Ron wasn't as tall as he was, they would have lifted him off his feet._

"_Hey! Geroff! Geroff! What's the big idea?" Ron struggled against his brothers, but the two of them had over powered him. They began searching him, but this time they weren't as polite as they were with Ginny. Still keeping him trapped against the wall the twins shoved their hands in his pockets and up his pant legs. _

"_Come on Ronniekins, gives us back our stuff." _

"_What stuff? Get off me! Have you two gone nutters?" _

_The process continued for another few minutes only ending once the twins were sure what they were looking for wasn't on Ron's person. With identical glares they began to leave and Fred called out, "It's not over Ron. We'll get it back." _

_~*~_

"_That's Ginny for you," Ron said sometime later, after dinner. _

_At dinner the twins continued to shoot Ron death glares, muttering about what they planned to do with him when their mother was out of hearing distance. Harry and Ron were lying on their respective beds discussing the events that transpired earlier. He hadn't mentioned yet about what Ginny had said to him when they were alone in the hall. Something told him it was the smartest thing to keep quiet. The fact that all of her older brothers were terrified with facing an angry Ginny was enough to keep her confidence. _

"_I know she did it, I just know it. I just can't prove it."_

"_How do you know she did it?" Harry inquired._

"_Because she's the only one who could pull this off." _

_Harry must have looked as confused as he felt because Ron tried to explain._

"_Ginny. She's…she's…she makes Fred and George look like amateurs. She can convince anyone of anything. She has the twins' cunningness coupled with an innocent face. How do you think she has never gotten detention before? Snape can't even pin anything on her. I think he secretly wishes she was sorted into Slytherin. Wouldn't that just be awful?"_

"_So if you know she's that good, can't you catch her when she does things like that?" _

"_That's just it. She'll be trying to convince you of something so you do the opposite, right? You think you can play her at her own game. But whatever you end up doing turns out to be exactly wanted you to do!"_

"_And don't think for a second that my mum knows how she operates. Sure, she knows Ginny is no angel, but if she knew the half of it, Ginny wouldn't see the light of day."_

"_Didn't she get kitchen duty, though? If she was so good, how did she get blamed for something she /ididn'ti do?"_

_Ron laughed. It was a pitying laugh that told Harry that Ron must think he was an idiot. _

"_Harry, mate, you have no idea, do you? Ginny wanted to get blamed for it. Now she has something to hold over the twins' heads for awhile. Its leverage. Didn't you see how she off-handedly mentioned it before and just walked away?" _

It was at that moment that he started to notice little Ginny Weasley. He hadn't stopped noticing either. She was fascinating. He watched her manipulate her brothers in ways he never imagined. It was to the point that he thought he'd never be able to trust a single thing that came out of her mouth. However, upon returning to Hogwarts that year, he had continued watching and he learned something new. The devious streak in her seemed to apply only to her siblings. It was strange, but Harry thought that maybe growing up with them gave her the knowledge of their weaknesses. That combined with getting picked on by six older, insensitive brothers didn't make her too compassionate towards them.

Smiling at the memory, Harry exited the kitchen.

~*~

"GINEVRA MOLLY WEASLEY!"

"Yes, mum?" Ginny asked from her prone position on the floor.

"What do you THINK you are doing?" screamed Molly Weasley's floating head from Ginny's fireplace.

"Umm. Lying on the floor, relaxing on a Sunday?" Ginny was used to her mother's rampages. In her experience it was best to keep calm until knowing exactly what you were being yelled at, although such a flippant comment was bound to make things worse for herself.

From the corner of her eye, she could see Harry falter by the doorway to her kitchen. From where he was standing he'd be out of view of the fireplace, so as of yet he remained undetected. However, that didn't stop the terrified look from crossing his face.

"Lying on the floor. Honestly. If I wanted to be told redundant things I would make a date for tea with Mrs. Shoemaker," her mum muttered to herself. _Oh boy. _Ginny fought to hide a cringe. It was never a good thing when her mother began muttering to herself.

"I'm sorry, Mum. You look upset. What's wrong? Is it Dad?" Maybe if she played up the part of the caring, concerned daughter that she is, it'd soften her mother up.

"Your father's in perfect health, Ginny. Although you wouldn't know it since you've practically been a stranger this week."

From the corner of her eye, she could see Harry pale.

"I'm sorry Mum. I've been busy. Work stuff, you know?" Ginny lied.

"Is that what they call it now?" her mother seethed. "Why in my day, the young man needed _permission_ – "

"Wait, what? Permission for what?" Ginny intervened. She was slightly relieved she didn't have to fake confusion at whatever it was that had her mother upset.

Molly Weasley's face appeared bright red, despite being surrounded by green flames. "Oh, I'll bring you up to speed young lady." Without any further explanation her head disappeared from the fireplace only to return a moment later clutching a magazine in her teeth. Seeing that her mother was struggling to keep a hold of it, Ginny hurried to relieve her mother of the burden.

Ginny glanced quickly at the cover of the magazine only to glance back up at her mother, her face a mask of confusion. "What does _Witch Weekly_ have to do with anything?" _Did they hire a rival columnist that Luna was unaware of?_

"You might want to turn to page fourteen."

Not sure what she was going to find, Ginny slowly opened the magazine up to the proper page, her hands trembling. When she reached her destination, she squeaked and dropped the offending article on the ground.

There, for the entire wizarding world to see were several pictures of her and Harry at the Cannons/Tornados game. Ginny stared at the pictures in fascinated horror. She felt like she was watching a horrible accident, one that she didn't want to witness but couldn't for the life of her look away. One page held a picture of the two of them sleeping under a Tornados blanket while the next showed them laughing and joking. With a groan, Ginny flipped to the next page and drank in the sight of the final (and largest) photo of the bunch. Harry and Ginny were standing quite close to one another and Ginny's hands were making their way up the front of his shirt. Both she had Harry knew what had transpired was completely innocent, but the way the photographer cropped and edited the photo made it look like she was having her naughty way with the famous Harry Potter in the top box of the Quidditch stadium for all to see. _No wonder Mum's pulling a nutter._

"It isn't what it looks – "

"It's _exactly_ what it looks like, young lady. I didn't have seven children by knitting, did i?" she screeched.

"No, Mum," she conceded.

"Why I have to find out my only daughter is in a serious relationship through a magazine I'll never know! I thought we could talk Ginny! Keeping something like this from me, it isn't like you. And Harry? You know your father and I think of him as one of our own." Her mum's anger seemed to have lost its steam and Ginny thought she detected her mother's eyes tearing up. Ginny ignored the strangled groan from Harry and scooted closer to the fireplace.

"Oh Mum we can always talk! I never want that to change, ever. I've just been extremely busy."

A small smile appeared on her mother's lips and Ginny let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. "I think I'd like that, dear. We haven't had one of our girl talks in awhile. You know how little of that I get, what with all of your brothers." She stopped to stare at her daughter with an appraising look. "Do we need to talk about anything in particular, Ginevra? Go over any charms perhaps? You know I don't approve, but there's this new potion I read about it in _Witch Weekly_ – "

"i_Mother_!/i" Ginny hissed, refusing to acknowledge the thump Harry made as he fell against the doorframe.

"I'm just saying, that one can never be too prepared is all," her mother replied innocently, but Ginny could swear she saw a gleam in her mother's eyes.

"Well, thank you Mum, but this is a conversation that could be had at a later date." _Let's schedule it for the 12__th__ of I'd-rather-eat-my-shoe-than talk-to-you-about-sex._

"Now that that's out of the way, why don't you stop by tomorrow to talk over dinner some more?" Correctly interpreting the panicked look on her daughter's face, she hastily added, "A normal talk Ginny dear, alright? Excellent, then I'll expect to see you there around seven."

"Of course I'll be there," Ginny agreed instantly.

"Excellent! I'll let your father and brothers know we're having a family dinner!" Molly exclaimed.

Ginny mentally cringed but knew it was no use voicing her disagreement. She glanced at Harry out of the corner of her eye and noticed that he had gone deathly pale at the thought. She was glad he was using her wall for support. She doubted he would be able to stand on his own at this point.

"Well I must be off if I'm going to owl everyone tonight. I should also run to the market and pick up some more food. We haven't had a family dinner in quite some time," her mother rambled.

"Yes Mum."

"Oh and one more thing dear before I go. Please tell Harry that he's invited, and ask him to leave his hiding spot and at least give me a proper hello." Ginny knew the look on her mother's face and it screamed smugness. iThat evil woman knew he was here the entire time!/i

Harry awkwardly walked over to where Ginny was in front of the fireplace and knelt down next to her. He absently shoved Ginny's drink into her hands. "Hello, Mrs. Weasley."

"How are you, Harry," she greeted warmly. "And please I think it's a bit more appropriate for you to start calling me Molly now. What with you and Ginny being an item and all. Maybe soon enough I'll be telling you to call me Mum?"

"Er…Molly." Ginny could hear the strain in his voice as he forced himself to look like he didn't want the floor to open up and swallow him whole. Ginny was thinking she might just jump in there with him and put an end to her misery.

"Harry, dear, don't look so frightened. It's just a small family get together. And a bit of advice: If you're going to try and stay out of sight, don't stand in front of any lighting. It'll cast a shadow. Merlin knows I've seen you enough times to make out that unruly hair of yours. Does it every lay straight?"

"Umm, not usually Mrs Wea – Molly."

"Ah well. It adds character. We'll be seeing you tomorrow then?" When they nodded their agreement, she smiled. "Good. Seven o'clock on the dot. Don't be late!"

A split second later, she was gone and all the couple could do was to stare at each other in shocked silence.

********

A/N 1: I thought I'd try some new stuff while writing this chapter. I've read many books/fan fics that have done parts of stories that were "dialogue only." It always intrigued me, and I felt it took a certain art form to be able to convey everything you want to as an author without being able to describe feelings or actions. So this is my attempt. I hope I didn't fail miserably and you all were able to follow it.

A/N 2: Also, I added in the memory. I know it wasn't necessary but I added it in for two reasons. 1.) I wanted some more back story on Harry and Ginny pre "Losing a Wizard." Since I've alluded to Harry's feelings for Ginny starting long before where my story takes place. Also, (I'm not sure if this is technically cheating or not, so I'll cite it here) the flashback is actually taken from a story I started years ago, but was going no where so it was never finished/posted. I loved this part and wanted someone else to be able to read it!

A/N 3: I'll try to update more frequently but don't want to give any specific time lines. Just know its not abandoned!! Thank you for patiently waiting!! R/R!


	13. Chapter 13: Dangerous Dilemmas

**Chapter 13: Dangerous Dilemmas**

Harry groaned as his alarm buzzed for the third time (which was now chanting "Get up, lazy bones!" - _cheeky_ _bugger_). Slowly, he opened his blurry eyes and blinked a few times to try and clear the sleep away, not quite ready to leave the warm embrace of sleep surrounding him. After a few moments he sighed and stared at the fuzzy image of his ceiling above his head. _That's odd. I never sleep this way._

Shaking the thought away, he tried to roll over so he could get his glasses and start his day. He quickly found out, however, that he couldn't move. His right arm was bent above his head and would not budge. He yanked harder. Nothing. Frantically, he attempted to maneuver his head to see what was holding him in place but couldn't. He twisted the other way and found his left arm, while stretched out toward his nightstand was also immobile. He squinted his eyes to figure out what had happened. When he saw a thick green vine coiled up the length of his arm there was nothing else he could do - he shrieked like a ten year old girl.

Ginny rushed into her office and flung her light cloak towards the rack missing it entirely. She was late. She had been up half the night worrying about the dinner she and Harry agreed to attend tonight. After an hour of stressing over what tomorrow might bring, she realized she had a bigger problem.

Even though all thoughts of completing the article had left her mind, she knew she'd have to convince Luna not to force her to write it, or at the very least make something up and not include her byline. She was ready to bargain writing a dozen extra articles of Luna's choosing, but now everything had changed. Now the entire wizarding world knew she and Harry were dating and if _The Quibbler _published anything about relationships, especially by an anonymous journalist the other publications would be relentless.

Grabbing her notes, she hurried out of her office, barely noticing that she nearly tripped over her fallen cloak. She rushed down the hall, not registering that she knocked over the young intern, David Driscoll (Hiya Ginny!), her only concern was getting to Luna's office as quickly as possible.

Her conclusion was simple. This article was not happening, even if she had to quit.

Harry glared at the monster sitting on his chest. It wasn't a cat, he decided. It was the devil's idea of a bad joke. i_No_/i, he corrected, _it WAS the devil_.

The damn thing planted himself on his chest twenty minutes ago and thought it'd be a grand idea to stare at him, while periodically digging its claws into him.

"Ger'off," Harry muttered, twisting his torso in a futile attempt to shake the beast off of him. "C'mon, Pollux! I said get off!"

He yelped as the demon scrapped his nails down his chest, leaving deep red marks in their wake. He twisted his torso, trying to shake the damn thing off of him, but the cat only dug in deeper and increased his hissing and upgraded to spitting. _Alright, you little maggot – that's what you are, a bloody maggoty demon - I'll do things your way._

He took a deep breath, hiding a wince as it only served to push the maggot demon's nails in further. Ignoring the pain the best he could, Harry plastered a fake, sappy smile on his face.

"What a pretty boy you are," he cooed, in a poor imitation of how he watched Ginny interact with the twin felines. "Aren't you the most precious thing?" i_Blergh._/i

Harry would later swear, despite everyone's disbelief, that Pollux raised his eyebrow – or cat version of an eyebrow – and snickered. He refused to be out-stared by a cat and tried again.

"Come on, pretty thing, just use those wonderfully sharp claws of yours and those beautiful white razor sharp teeth and slice through the vines."

Although the cat cocked his head to one side, as if he was contemplating the request, the vines around his arms tightened, pulling his arms firmer against the headboard.. _That's it. No more plants. Ever._

Harry gritted his teeth against the pain and focused all his energy on turning it into a smile. Nearly vomiting at the high pitched, girly voice he was using, he continued on, crooning, "Who's a pretty Polly? Huh? That's right, you are!"

Narrowing his pale green eyes, the demon released a mighty hiss. Harry's eyes widened in horror as he watched it unsheathe its curved, razor sharp claws and lunge.

Hermione hummed to herself as she sat behind her desk. Her hand curled around the ornate copper handle of one of its drawers to retrieve the pile of Owl Post she had neglected to read over the weekend. She usually stayed on top of small tasks like these but she was preoccupied with Ginny and Harry's budding relationship and the odd behavior of her husband. Staring at the stack of letters, junk adverts, and magazine subscriptions she decided that she'd have to tackle the stack over lunch.

Ron had been acting strange since he had arrived home on Saturday. He uncharacteristically refused to say what was on his mind, but she knew she'd get it out of him eventually. Sometimes he had to mull things over before he was ready to talk, and over the years she had learned to be more patient with him.

After going through what looked like the most pressing letters, she decided to indulge herself in some light reading as she finished her sandwich. She cleared off some space on her desk and began idly flipping through the latest copy of _Witch Weekly_. After skimming a few articles on the latest cosmetic charms, she flipped the page to find an article to read. With a gasp of surprise she dropped her forgotten sandwich on her desk and stared at the article in horror.

Consumed by morbid fascination, she watched as a picture of Ginny looped through the motions of yanking Harry towards her and kissing him. Merlin, they even captured her grabbing his bum!

So absorbed in the article, Hermione didn't notice her door open and someone enter.

"Hey love. I thought I'd pop over and see if you were having lunch."

With a squeak of surprise, Hermione covered the magazine with her forearms and glanced nervously up at her husband who was innocently standing in front of her desk with his own sandwich in one hand and a roll of parchment in the other.

"Ron! What a surprise, you hardly ever have time to come down here to visit," she rattled off with surprising speed.

He dropped down into and sat comfortably in the seat across from her and propped his feet up on her desk. "Normally it's hard, but I figured I'd stop by after the owl I got from Mum."

"Your mum Owled you at work?" she asked nervously. "Is everything okay?"

"Not sure. Her letters are usually longer than this," he answered with a casual shrug. He tossed the letter over to where she sat and Hermione tried desperately to catch it while still covering the magazine.

Shakily, she slowly unrolled the letter and read its contents.

_Ron,_

_Dinner at the Burrow tonight. 7 o'clock. Don't be late_

_Love,_

_Mum_

"That is unusual for her," she agreed slowly. She nearly sighed in relief over the fact that it hadn't mentioned the article. "It seems like we're not going to that new place in Diagon Alley tonight."

"Guess not, but it'll be nice to have some of Mum's home cooking. Wonder why she wants us over. Our regular family dinner isn't scheduled for another two weeks." He swung his feet of her desk and began to unwrap his sandwich as he glanced at the objects on her desk.

"Hey, is that _Witch Weekly?_ I thought you said you were canceling your subscription to that rag after you tried that hair charm that backfired!"

"Yes, well it seems that I've forgotten to do so," she replied as she carefully slid the magazine towards her. Unfortunately, she did not move fast enough. Ron leaped forward and snatched the magazine out of her tenuous grasp with a "Hah!"

"Let's see what bogus charms you've been reading about this time…wait, what is this? _The Boy-Who-Loved_? Are they writing about Harry again? These are the worst clichés I've ever read. _The Chosen One chooses his mate_?_ Has the former Seeker caught the Snitch to his heart?_ What is this rubbish?" he asked heatedly.

Hermione buried her face in her hands waiting for the moment he realized who Harry had 'chosen.'

"Who is this harpy?" he grumbled. "I bet its one of those strumpets he's brought around before. I told you we should have done something. We should have set him up with - _GINNY!_

Hermione's head snapped up as her husband shrieked his sister's name. Ron was staring blankly at the magazine he held tightly in front of him.

After a few moments he looked up at Hermione and blinked. "It's Gi-gi-gin… Harry's in the picture… b-but Ginny… just saw them… hadn't said… not a word… Ginny! i_GINNY!/i_ he ended with another shriek, frantically waving the pictures dangerously close to his wife's face.

Before Hermione could make a grab for the magazine, Ron pulled it towards him and stared hard at the pictures as if he was expecting them to start speaking to him. She watched in fascination as a smile started to form then disappear as his face paled and she knew he had most likely seen the picture of Ginny grab Harry's bum, or perhaps it was the one where her hands were shoved up the front of his shirt. What he said next, however, was not what the clever witch was expecting.

"_MY SHIRT!"_

Five and a half hours. For five and a half hours Harry had been tethered to his bed like a captive hippogriff.

The first hour and a half consisted of fruitless efforts to escape his binds, not to mention being mauled by a maggoty demon cat. He alternated between trying to physically break free and persuading the Snuggle Plant to let him go. He yanked then pleaded, twisted and cajoled, clawed then threatened. The only thing he had to show for his efforts were severe rope burns along his arms and a vine from the plant wrapped around his neck.

The last three hours were more of a blur. Harry had taken to ignoring the plant and the demon, who was now curled up and sleeping on his lower abdomen, and he began to count. He counted many things. First he counted the minutes he spent chained to the bed, and then he moved on to objects in his room, his books, his pictures, the strips on his bed coverings. When that became too monotonous he moved on to more interesting things.

He counted how many injuries he had received since he started dating Ginny. The number was shockingly high. They ranged from small bruises on his thighs from when he banged into his desk to nearly bleeding to death from a faulty Nosebleed Nougat. He was beginning to wonder if dating Ginny was hazardous to his health, but then an image of Ginny flashed through his mind. Her laughing and demanding to recite an oath that she was the queen of all things magical. The tender smile that graced her face after he choked down the dreadful biscuit. The way bit her lip to keep from laughing at the movies.

Then Harry began to count the different ways Ginny smiled.

Ginny stomped into her flat, tossing her now very dirty and rumpled cloak onto the nearest piece of furniture. She looked down and sighed in dismay as she noticed it was once again in a heap on the floor. Too exhausted to pick it up, she stepped over it and made her way over to the couch. Work was unbearably long and all she wanted to do was curl up somewhere comfortable and take a nap.

She groaned as she spied the clock on her mantle pointing to _No Time to Rest!_ and collapsed onto the couch, wincing as she banged her head against the armrest. Ignoring the clock, she stared at the ceiling for a few minutes, basking in the feeling of being off her feet. Eventually, she glanced at the clock again and started as she realized that Harry was going to be there soon. Forgetting her previous exhaustion, she raced into her bedroom and tore through her recently folded laundry in search for something to wear.

Twenty minutes and three near falls over the mounds of clothes and wayward shoes that now littered her room later she was finally ready. A swift glance at the clock told her that she had five minutes to spare. She always prided herself in her ability to get ready relatively quickly. Growing up with a house full of boys taught her how to primp quickly and discreetly, lest she be mocked by the rest of the brood. Knowing that Harry would be there shortly, she flicked her wand at the wireless and made herself comfortable as she waited.

And waited.

…and waited.

"Stupid, little coward of a wizard," Ginny muttered as she paced back and forth. She was livid. Scratch that. She was livid a half an hour ago when the blighter was only thirty minutes late. Now? Now, she was fuming.

_Who did he think he was? Savior of the wizarding world? Oh…right_._ Still. Like that means anything. He can face Voldemort annually for seven years, but can't bear to have one measly dinner with my family?_

Ginny let out a wail and kicked her coffee table in a fit of rage, only to stumble back onto her couch as her entire foot began to throb.

Leaning over to clutch her aching foot, Ginny screamed into her empty flat, "HARRY POTTER, I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"

_"Oh, my poor heart, where has it gone? It's left me for a spell…_," Harry sang faintly.

After going through all of the Weird Sisters songs that he could remember he had moved on to few of Celestina Warbeck's that he had picked up over the years. It was funny, he thought deliriously, that he could remember so many song lyrics. _If only potion ingredients or goblin rebellions were put to song…_

Coherent thoughts were a thing of the past for Harry Potter. It was amazing what several hours of being alone and immobile could do to a person. He had been drifting in and out of sleep and when he was conscious it was all he could do to keep his mind occupied and away from the fact that he hadn't used the loo since the night before.

_Maybe there's a record for going the longest time without going to the loo. Hermione would know. She could look it up in_ Hogwarts, A History.

_Ginny might know too. Ginny's brilliant. _A sloppy smile slipped onto his face. He thought a lot about Ginny today. Her hair, her laugh, her smile. He had counted and recounted and decided she had at least eight different kinds of smiles. Her voice was pretty great too.

"Harry!"

In fact, if he thought about it hard enough it was like he could hear her at that very moment.

"Harry, I know you're here, you bleeding coward!"

Harry frowned. _This doesn't sound like any of my fantasies of Ginny._

Suddenly, the door to his bedroom banged open and Harry winced at the noise. The only thing he had heard in the past several hours was his own voice.

"HARRY JAMES POTTER!" a voice snarled.

Harry slowly turned his head to look at the source of the noise. He smiled at the fuzzy blob that vaguely looked like Ginny, if the red at the top of its form was any indication.

"Ginny!" Harry slurred, smiling happily.

"Oh this is just perfect. I'm sitting at home _waiting for over an hour_ for you to get your sorry arse over there and you're at home having a lie in!" He watched bemusedly as the Ginny-blob paced back and forth.

The Ginny-blob stopped abruptly and faced him and raised an arm at him. It looked like she was pointing something thin and made of wood at him. Huh.

"What is your full name? Just Harry or is it Harold?" she demanded to know.

"Wha?" Harry asked, trying to concentrate. Why was she all the way over there? She should be here. With him. In his bed.

"I am going to 'full name' you again and I want to make sure I am doing this properly!" Ginny-blob stamped her foot.

"It's just Harry. Well, Harry. Not 'Just-Harry.' That'd be a weird name." Ginny could be so silly at times.

"Well then Just-Harry," Ginny snarled as she advanced on him. "Why don't you _just_ explain to me why you are _just_ lying in bed trying to avoid going to my parents with me?"

"Why would I avoid going anywhere with you?" Harry asked, confused. "And why are you still over there? You should – what did you say last night? Yes! Give us some sugar!"

"Oh-ho! You're not going to be getting any sugar, salt, spice, or anything along those lines!"

Harry pulled against the vines as he desperately tried to reach for her. Why wouldn't she come over?

"What are you – Oh Merlin, Harry! What happened to you?" Ginny's wand clattered to the floor as she rushed to his side.

"S'snuggling with me," he answered, trying to shrug.

"Oh you stupid, stupid boy. Why didn't you read the directions I gave you?"

Harry didn't pay much attention to what Ginny was saying. She was currently running her hands over his face and arms. Maybe she wanted a quick snog. He'd have a better idea if he could make out her facial expressions.

"Can't see your face."

Seconds later, his vision was cleared. Ginny was perched on the side of his bed, still looking slightly angry as she glared at the vines around his arms and muttered, "Stupid plant…bloody stupid idea…"

"I think you're right brilliant, love," Harry gushed, absently smiling at the sight of her silky hair.

Ginny twisted from where she was perched on the side of his bed to get a closer look at his face. Her expression softened as she reached out and cupped his face. "Oh Harry. Why do you put up with me and all my barminess?

But Harry wasn't listening. The feel of her hand still on his cheek and her thigh brushing up against his torso sent shock waves down his spine. Hoping she'd take the hint, he closed his eyes and puckered his lips dramatically, leaning as far forward as his binds would allow.

Although not quite sure what was so funny, Harry thought he heard Ginny chuckle softly before pressing her lips lightly to his. To his disappointment, however, she ended the kiss and rested her forehead against his. He opened his eyes and gazed into her warm brown ones, her hair shielding them from the rest of the world.

"I think it's you who's brilliant, Harry," she breathed. She nuzzled his nose with her own and he felt his eyes begin to cross at the sensation. His eyes slipped shut as she continued her ministrations, her hand that was currently resting on his cheek slipped down to his chest. However, as it brushed against a particularly sensitive scratch, he jerked back in pain, his nose colliding painfully with Ginny's eyebrow.

"Ow! Harry, what was tha – Merlin, what happened to you?" she gasped, taking in the bright red criss-crossed patterns on his chest.

He shrugged and replied, "I'm your demo – er, I mean, your cat's new scratching post."

Ginny whipped around, only to catch a glimpse of a tail slipping out of the bedroom. Instead of chasing after the feline, Ginny scooped up her forgotten wand from the floor. "C'mon, let's get those awful vines off of you and fix you up."

She flicked her wand and the offending vines went slack around his body. A few more flips and a swish later, they were completely removed and burned to a crisp.

Harry immediately tried to sit up and winced as the pain in his arms flared to life.

Ginny hurried back to his side and stilled his movements. "Woah there. Not to quickly, yeah? Easy there, Tarzan."

"Tarzan?" Harry questioned.

Ginny smiled impishly. "You're not friends with Hermione Granger without picking up a few things along the way."

"Does that mean you're my Jane?" Harry asked hopefully. Images of him and Ginny alone in a hot sticky jungle filled his mind.

"Possibly," she replied vaguely, brushing the fringe off his forehead. With her free hand, Ginny pointed her wand towards the open bedroom door and summoned an ointment from Harry's bathroom.

Twisting off the cap she said, "Alright, Tarzan. Jane's going to get rid of these nasty scratches for you, but it might be cold."

Harry only nodded, his mind focused on Ginny wrapped around him, the only thing separating them would be feeble loin cloths as he swung through the trees. Her face would be buried in his neck while her legs wrapped around his waist while he let out a fierce battle cry. He had just reached the point where they reached safety on one of the uppermost branches of a large tree when he felt icy cold fingers on his chest.

He let out a yelp and tried to avoid her touch, but he couldn't get away. Ginny tsk'ed and continued rubbing small circles over the scratches. "Is it really that cold?"

He would have spoken, but decided not to, in fear of letting a whimper escape. He nodded instead. Ginny eyed him thoughtfully before smirking. She leaned over slowly and blew softly on the icy ointment.

Harry's head fell back against the headboard and he moaned. _Dear Merlin! She's trying to kill me!" _

Harry watched as she continued to apply the ointment to the rest of the scratches. It was a slow torturous process. It was brilliant.

When she finished she glanced up, her eyes blazing. Unable to control himself any longer, he reached out and dragged her into a fiery, albeit sloppy kiss. Ginny let out a sigh of approval and returned the kiss with equal vigor. He wasn't sure how long they stayed like that, touching and kissing, and he couldn't think of anything that could make him stop. He moved to planting kisses along her jaw as Ginny straddled his lap and he gasped.

"Ginny?"

"Mm, yes Harry?" she replied, tilting her head to allow him better access.

"I've really got to take a leak"

Harry apparated to the front garden of the Burrow and found Ginny waiting there for him. It was the same spot he had been apparating to for years. How many times had he come over while Ginny was still living here for a pick up game of Quidditch or for special occasions like the birth of Percy's daughter Molly or Ginny's graduation party? There were those countless Weasley dinners he'd been invited to and the nights where he, Ron, and Hermione stopped by for a random visit.

Objectively everything was still the same. The weatherworn lopsided sign that read "The Burrow" looked like it had seen better days and he could hear the few chickens that hadn't turned in for the night wandering around behind the garage. Tonight, smoke rose from the chimney of the eccentric house and although he never had the heart to ask, he still held the belief that the house would not be standing without the help of magic. Absently, Harry noted that the weeds and overgrown plants that had inhabited the garden and the Wellington boots that used to lie in the grass when Harry first visited were now gone. He assumed Mrs. Weasley had more time on her hands now that all of her children were grown and out of the house. Perhaps it wasn't a reflection of the free time she now has but the work serving as a distraction from such a quite house on most days.

Harry turned to Ginny and saw that she too wore a nostalgic look on her face. He watched as a wisp of a smile curled her lips and her eyes held a far away look, perhaps back to her childhood. Silently, Harry wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

"Mum was right the other day. It has been far too long since I've been home," Ginny whispered, still staring at her childhood home.

"Do you know this is still the best house I've ever seen?" he said just as quietly, afraid to ruin the quiet ambiance that surrounded them.

Ginny turned into Harry's embrace and wrapped her arms around him all the while keeping her eyes on the Burrow. "Yeah," she answered with a soft sigh, "no matter what I try I don't think I'll ever be able to recreate it."

Even though she couldn't see his face, Harry nodded. He was imagining the eclectic way she decorated her flat and figured that was what she was referring to. In the distance he heard someone laugh inside the Burrow. It was then that he remembered why they were here.

"Then I guess it's the perfect place for me to be murdered tonight," he said with a humourless laugh.

As expected Ginny pulled back and stared at him for a moment before asking, "Harry, why do you insist on believing the situation is that dire?"

"Hmm, let's see," Harry pulled away completely and pretended to ponder the question. "First off, I've been secretly dating the daughter of my unofficial adopted family. Secondly, said romance was splashed across the front pages of one of the biggest gossip magazines for the entire wizarding world to see. Then we have the fact that when your mum confronted you about the magazine I hid like an idiot and she caught me. Why don't we top it off that my girlfriend has six - i_SIX/i _fully trained wizards for brothers all of which are likely to beat me to a bloody pulp!"

He knew he was dangerously close to screaming but he didn't care. He was about to die very soon and he was sure that it'd be slow and painful. However, when he glanced and Ginny she was wearing the sweetest smile he had ever seen. _Merlin, was she happy about all of this? I'm about to die!_

"What?" he hissed. "Do you not care that this is the last time you'll see me alive?"

"I'm your girlfriend?" she asked, obviously not paying attention to what he was saying.

"What? Yes, of course you are! Did you think you weren't?"

"Well I had hoped but I wasn't sure. I mean I didn't want to assume but – really?"

As Harry's panicked thoughts calmed down he noticed that her smile grew even bigger as she stepped closer to him and his heart sped up as she resumed their earlier embrace.

"Yes, Ginny love." He brushed his finger tips across her face and swept away the stubborn lock of hair that refused to stay in its place. "How could you be anything but?"

She placed a feather light kiss on his lips and reluctantly removed herself from his arms. With a sigh she looked at the Burrow and said, "I guess that'll be good to know, since I'm sure my mother will ask me as soon as she can get me alone."

An agonized groan escaped his lips causing Ginny to chuckle. "Honestly Harry its not going to be that bad! I thought you grew out of your melodramatic stage."

"Then why did you want to meet earlier to figure out how we'd handle your family?" he asked peevishly.

With a smile, she laced her fingers through his and led him up the long walk that lead to the front door. "I panicked for a moment last night, er, and this afternoon. Truthfully the only two you have to worry for are the twins and you always have to look out for them. But if it'll make you feel better I'll give you some pointers as to handle those two.

"Like I said before this is the first time I've even brought a bloke home to meet my family. They love you and are going to love that we're together but don't trust the twins to let this opportunity pass without having some fun at our expense, ok? So if they ask you a question what do you do?

"Er…" Harry shifted and nervously adjusted his glasses.

"No!" Ginny interrupted with a frown. "Don't fix your glasses. They'll know you're nervous."

Harry made a mental note and looked down at his feet to make sure he didn't trip on the walk._No touching the eye glasses. Check._

"No, don't look down either," she continued. "They taught me how to play poker. If you look down they'll know you're lying, but if you look up they'll think you're making up your response. I learned that the hard way growing up."

She paused and squeezed his hand, getting him to look back up at her. "I know when you're nervous you tend to ramble. So avoid that if you can. But if you give only one word answers they'll jump all over that too. If you avoid eye contact like you're doing to me right now," she said, jerking his face back towards her with her thumb and forefinger, "they won't like that at all. They'll think you don't have good intentions and you're trying to hide it from them. Then again, if you stare at them you might look nutters. I don't remember, but if you're okay with letting them slip you a Canary Cream or two that might be best. If you avoid all of their pranks they'll just be more determined to get you even more, just don't let them bully you!

Harry's mind was racing. What was Ginny thinking dropping all this on him right before he walked into her family home? "So let me get this straight. I can't touch my glasses. I can't look up or down. I can talk but not too much or too little. I can't look at them, but I can't _not_ look at them. Is there anything I _can_ do?"

"Oh Harry, I'm not trying to worry you. You'll be fine. Just act like you normally do," Ginny stopped outside the front door and knocked. She turned to Harry and gave him a critical look, "and, uh, try not to look so constipated. And lastly Harry there's one thing that I want you to remember. Do not under _any _circumstances…"

Before she got a chance to finish the sentence, the front door swung open and revealed a beaming Mrs. Weasley. "Ginny! Harry! So good to see you. It's truly been to long since the two of you have been by to visit. Why don't you come in? The others are all inside."

Without waiting for a reply, Ginny's mum nearly dragged Harry inside. Panicked, he twisted his head back to look at Ginny. _What wasn't he supposed to do?_

Ginny's eyebrows were raised at the sight of her mum dragging him towards the kitchen. Not able to offer him any help at the moment, she shook her head and followed bemusedly behind him.

Harry followed dazedly behind Molly Weasley and almost ran into her when she whirled around and eyed him critically. He began to squirm under her scrutiny and let out an unexpected yelp when he felt a punch on his side.

Mrs. Weasley frowned at him and chided, "You are not eating nearly enough. Why I could practically feel your ribs!" she turned to her daughter and said, "you should be feeding that boy better, Ginevra. I should start sending you more left overs. Merlin knows your skills in the kitchen – "

"She feeds me very well, Mrs. Weasley," Harry hastily cut in. He knew how sensitive Ginny was about her cooking and didn't want to get on her bad side tonight. He needed all the allies he could get.

With her attention temporarily diverted, Mrs. Weasley smiled. "Its about time you quit with the formalities, Harry. It's Molly from now on," she paused with a sly smile towards Ginny, "or Mum if you'd like."

With a smile and a wink, Mrs. Weasley retreated to the kitchen, leaving a crimson faced Harry speechless.

Ginny giggled and moved next to Harry. "I think she'd been waiting all day to say that to you."

"What do you mean?"

"The twins had to get it from somewhere, Harry. I secretly think Mum takes pleasure in making us all feel like we are five and just got caught nicking the last caudron cake before supper."

"This is going to be a long night, isn't it?"

"It'll be fine. Now we better get go into the kitchen. Mum'll be expecting me to help."

Harry cautiously entered the kitchen of the Burrow. Reflexively, he instantly swept the room with his eyes and cataloged its number of occupants and escape routes. Ron and Hermione were stationed at the kitchen table with bowls of various shapes and sizes contain an assortment of vegetables. Harry watched as Ron flicked his wand at a bowl of carrots, making them slice into thin even pieces. Involuntarily, he gulped. i _That could be me in a few minutes. _/i Mr. Weasley was seated next to Hermione,

At the sound of them entering the kitchen, the occupants looked up. Harry watched in dismay as Ron's face began to turn puce. Ron pushed roughly away from the kitchen table and stomped towards him. "You!" he snarled.

Harry began to panic, acutely aware of their size difference. He put his hands up, hoping fruitlessly that it would calm him down.

"Ron, I –," But he never got the chance to finish what he was going to say, as Ron barreled past him and grabbed Ginny by her bicep.

"Hey!" she squawked.

Ron didn't listen to her as he literally dragged her over to the counter. He snatched up what was currently the bane of Harry's existence – the latest copy of _Witch Weekly_. "What is the meaning of this?" he spat.

"What are you – "

He roughly dropped her arm and practically tore through the magazine until he found what he was looking for. "THIS! This is what I am talking about!" he shouted, thrusting the magazine into her face.

"Ron, Harry and I just – "

"I knew you were lying when I came over that day. My Cannons shirt? _MY_ Cannons shirt? With a Tornados badge? In a Tornados private booth? Its ruined. I'll never be able to wear it again!"

"Honestly, Ron," Ginny huffed. I'll buy you two more shirts if that'll make you stuff it."

Somewhere in the background Harry thought he heard Hermione moan, "Two more?" but he'd never know for certain.

Ron stared at his sister for what felt like an eternity, his breath slowly returning to normal. Finally the silence in the room was broken as he nodded and said, "Deal."

There was a collective sigh of relief (and one of resignation from Hermione) from the others in the room. As the siblings called a truce, the activity in the room returned.

"Harry dear," Mrs. Weasley called from her spot at the stove, "could you go get the boys from the garden? We'll be eating in a few minutes."

Ginny looked up at him from where she was no seated, preparing the salad. She nodded encouragingly at him and gave him a smile he was unable to resist.

As Harry walked out the back door and into the back garden, extremely aware that he could be currently walking to his death. He hadn't made it that far before he was accosted by two identical smirking faces.

"Ah, look who it is dear brother."

"If it isn't the man of the hour."

"Quite right. Although I think he's more of the man of the week."

"You mean _Weekly._ I happened to catch a particularly interesting and very educational article in _Witch…"_

Harry watched in confusion as the identical smirks slid off the twins' faces and their face lose color.

"Right. George, didn't you want to discuss your new idea for the shop?" Fred asked, backing away from Harry.

"Er. Yeah. That new idea," George replied. He leaned toward Harry and whispered, "It's also very educational, if you get my drift," and tapped the side of his nose. His mouth opened to continue, but his eyes slid to something just over Harry's shoulder and slammed his mouth shut. Backing up, he turned to look at his brother. "Well, best get to it then, my genius brother."

Together they hurried around the corner of the house, whispering frantically with their heads bent close together.

Harry let out a sigh of relief. It wasn't often that someone escaped an encounter with the twins unscathed. He chanced a glance over his shoulder and caught Ginny slipping her wand into her back pocket. Seeing him watching her, she raised an eyebrow and walked over to him.

"Alright?" she asked as she drew nearer.

With a weak smile, Harry nodded. "Thanks to you. What did you threaten to do?"

"Nothing," Ginny replied with an innocent smile. "They've been on the wrong end of my wand enough times to know that they never want to be there again."

"I can believe that!" Harry chuckled, feeling relaxed for the first time that night. "Did you really put your wand in your back pocket? What would Moody say?"

"Trying to protect my bum?" she teased, stepping closer.

Harry felt his heart start to race and closed the gap further. "I happen to be very partial to your bum, Miss. Weasley."

"Is that so? You should remove it then. Wouldn't want damage anything," she whispered, running her hands up his chest and onto his shoulders.

"Definitely wouldn't want that." He was just slipping his hands around her waist when a loud bang echoed from across the garden followed by muffled oaths.

The couple sprang apart and glanced up. Thousands of pieces of paper of all shapes and sizes were fluttering to the group like confetti.

"Oh those two twits!" Ginny spit as she held a piece of paper in her hand. "Excuse me for one moment Harry." Before Harry could even ask what she was talking about she took off, sprinting across the garden. He could hear her shouting at the twins. Although he couldn't make out what she was saying, her brothers certainly did and took off. A chase ensued, mixed with shouting between the three of them and an occasional hex from Ginny.

Harry couldn't make out what any of them were saying, but he caught a few creative phrases from Ginny. The twins on the other hand sounded like they were denying something and he thought he heard the phrase, "trying to deactivate it."

Harry shook his head in confusion and amusement. He glanced down at the ground and froze, finally seeing what set Ginny off. The entire garden was littered with pictures and quotes from the _Witch Weekly _article.

Somewhere between Ginny hexing Fred and George to have donkey ears and jinxing them to trip over their feet, Ron wandered over and stood next to Harry. They stood silent for a few minutes, watching the chaotic scene in front of them.

Eventually, Harry saw Ron shift and stuff his hands in his pockets. "So you and my sister, huh?"

"Yeah. Me and your sister," Harry replied, letting his gaze slip back to where Ginny was now berating the twins. She was waving her wand at them, and they were trying desperately to avoid the angry sparks shooting out of its tip. _Merlin, she's gorgeous when she's angry._

"Good."

Startled, Harry turned back to his friend and saw a small smile on his face.

"I was waiting for you to pull your head out of your arse and get together with her."

Harry chucked and shook his head, not bothering to argue Ron's spot on statement.

"Er," Ron stuttered and shifted uncomfortably. "Does that mean Ginny was the bird you were talking about that day in your office?"

Harry couldn't contain the bubble of laughter that rose in his throat.

A/N: Well, there it is. I had a fun time writing this chapter, but I also lost many nights sleep over this. The Weasleys are awesome characters and I wanted to do them justice. Here's to hoping I did!


	14. Chapter 14: Bollocks and Bed Rest

Bollocks and Bed Rest

"Hand me that beef."

"So the Deputy Minister put out that press release — "

"Any more potatoes left?"

"…told me that the Weird Sisters were coming out with a new song."

"Oi! Watch where you wave that fork!"

"Victoire, stop throwing peas at your cousins!"

Molly Weasley watched her family with a satisfied smile. It was such a large group that she had abandoned her attempt to seat everyone around the kitchen table and had Bill and Charlie set up tables in the back garden. All of her children and most of their significant others were able to make it tonight, which was a rarity. She assumed it had something to do with the _Witch Weekly_ article. Still, it was good to have everyone together for the evening. She knew her children tried their hardest to make the monthly family dinners, but they had their own family obligations and work that sometimes took priority. Charlie had missed a few lately, as he was busy helping with the new dragon reserve in Scotland. She gazed fondly as she watched him mime throwing peas at Bill's hair, and Victiore giggle and comply. _Maybe if he has to spend the entire evening combing peas out of his hair he'll finally see reason and cut it!_

Bill, Fleur and their children were regulars at The Burrow except when visiting Fleur's family in France. Motherhood seemed to do wonders for Fleur and Molly found that she quite enjoyed her company. Her daughter-in-law was currently hiding a smirk at the state of her husband's hair while caressing swollen belly. She was expecting her third child, which she declared would be the last unless Bill discovered a way to carry the child himself. He, for Molly was certain it was a boy, was due in just over a month which meant she needed to hurry up and finish the baby blanket she was working on.

Percy arrived shortly before dinner alone. His wife was home with little Molly who was suffering from a cold. She'd have to remember to make a care package for her namesake with some food and a batch of Pepper Up Potion. The rest of the boys and their wives and children were there as well. Fred and Verity brought their two year old daughter Prudence, who was currently napping in Ginny's old room and George's twins, Georgie and Roxy were up to Merlin knows what under the table.

Besides Charlie, who seemed to be on the path of being a lifelong bachelor, Molly's only two children who had yet to give her more grandchildren were her two youngest. She was hoping Ron and Hermione would change that soon. Her eyes slid over to where they were quietly talking to Harry and her daughter. Molly's heart warmed as Ron said something that made Hermione glare and the other couple laugh. She watched Harry casually slip his arm around her daughter. Ginny leaned into him and whispered something in his ear which caused Harry to laugh harder.

She continued to gaze knowingly at the couple. It was about time they got together. She had watched them dance around each other for years, and it took all her will power not to say anything. Arthur insisted that if it was meant to be they'd find each other on their own. It was hard though. She had noticed the longing glances Harry gave Ginny when he thought no one was watching back in between his fifth and sixth year at school. She was certain that she'd be receiving an owl from her daughter that school year declaring their new relationship and her elation but it never arrived. So she held her tongue and watched them casually date and get involved in relationships she knew were doomed from the start.

"I told you they'd eventually figure it out," her husband whispered, following her gaze.

She smiled and slipped her hand into his. "I know you did, love. It was just so hard to sit by and watch them pretend to be happy with other people."

"Of course," he conceded as he brushed his thumb across her knuckles. "But it seems they've finally found each other."

"They look happy, don't they?"

"They're practically glowing, Molly. Just look at them. I've never seen my little girl look at anyone that way," he assured her.

"Oh Arthur," Molly replied, recognizing the hint of sadness in his eyes, "you knew this day would come. She'll always be our little girl, but she's grown up."

"I know," he sighed and smiled reassuringly at her, "and I couldn't be happier about the man she's chosen. She loves him, too. I don't know if she even knows it yet. He's really grown up.

"That he has, Arthur. They both have."

~*~  
"I still can't believe he was stuck there all day!" Hermione exclaimed quietly.

Ginny shook her head ruefully. "I wouldn't either if I didn't see it for myself.

She and Hermione were sitting on the rickety porch swing her Dad had restored years ago. It was an old Muggle swing he had recovered from a raid. He had kept it in his shed and fiddled with it for months, stripping it down, ("Isn't this great, Ginny? Just like the Muggles would!") painting it by hand, and adding a few charms. It had been her favorite spot since, and she would sneak downstairs in the middle of the night to sit under the summer stars. Tonight she had claimed her spot shortly after dinner and was joined by Hermione, who chose to sit with her instead of watching the boys entertain the children by making the tables race each other around the garden.

They had been there for the better part of half an hour, quietly discussing the day's events. In hushed tones, Ginny described the scene that was waiting for her when she stormed Harry's flat.

"Oh Hermione, it was awful," she admitted in a mortified tone. "I think he started going a bit barmy after awhile. I mean he was slurring his words and mumbling about Tarzan and loincloths! After I burned those blasted vines to a crisp I had to Apparate back to my flat and grab some Pepper Up potion for him."

"Poor Harry," Hermione said, giving a pitying shake of her head. "I'll do some research about the magical properties of the plant. It could have just been a result of sheer boredom, but one never can be so sure.

Hermione paused and gave Ginny a contemplative glance. "Forgive me for prying Ginny. It sounded like you were done with this whole article. What happened? You just said you told Luna — "

"I am done with that. Completely done, I assure you," Ginny defended, feeling her temper start to rise. How could her friend think she would leave Harry there all day? Did Hermione think she was capable of being so cruel?

"But then —"

"He never read the directions!" she cried. The two witches glanced towards where the others were. A few of her brothers stopped what they were doing as her voice carried over the back garden. Ginny slumped back on the swing, her anger leaving as quickly as it arrived. "Bollocks! That's not even true. He _tried_ to, but I hid them under the plant at first and, well, apparently they were a bit — er — waterlogged. "

Ginny groaned and dropped her head to her friend's shoulder. "It's all my fault, isn't it?"

"Of course not!" Hermione laughed.

Ginny snorted in disbelief.

"Well at least not completely," she conceded, still giggling. "Don't worry too much about it. He looks fine now." She nodded towards where Harry was chasing a shrieking and giggling Prudence around the garden. Ginny assumed he was supposed to be some monster or magical creature, judging by the grunts and snarls that carried over to where they sat.

Ginny only nodded her agreement, as she watched the tableau in front of her. She felt an unfamiliar ache in her chest appear as Harry swung the redheaded Prue onto his shoulders. The toddler squealed in delight and patted the top of his head. A comfortable silence fell between the two of them as they each were lost in their own thoughts.

"Oi! You two!" Ron shouted from across the garden, breaking them from their musings. "Bill's gone to find cards to play Bollocks. Come on!"

Hermione gave her a wan smile as she stood then headed off to the other side of the garden where she began to admonish Ron for shouting unnecessarily.

Ginny stayed seated on the swing for a few moments and watched her family gathering around the now stationary tables. Harry stood off to the side, gazing at Ginny with an expectant smile. She felt her heart flutter at the sight and a warm, content feeling wash over her.

Smiling back at Harry, she pushed herself off the swing and jogged over to where he waited.

~*~

"Two 3's."

"One 4."

The sun had long since set and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had retired to bed, yet the Weasley children and their significant others still continued their cut throat game of Bollocks. After years of Ron holding the spot of reigning chess champion, the family refused to play him, including Bill despite the fact that he taught Ron how to play. Personally, Harry was surprised it took as long as it did for the Weasleys to abandon their attempts at beating Ron. He resigned himself to this fact when he was fourteen. _Not to mention, Ron's chess pieces went on strike and refused to play for me_.

As a result, they switched to playing Bollocks, a game Charlie introduced to them after a fellow dragon tamer taught him during a long night at the reserve. It was a fairly simple game, and one Harry learned when he was in primary school. Of course, he never played — Dudley didn't allow that to happen — but he would secretly watch and quickly caught on to the rules of the game. Despite this knowledge, he was surprised the first time he played when he realized wizard's Bollocks was slightly different then the way Muggles played it. He had placed two Queens and a 7 on the pile claiming he had three Queens. When Ron declared Bollocks, Harry jumped out of his seat in shock and grabbed his bum. With a devilish smile, Fred had pushed the pile of cards towards Harry and in a sing-song voice said, "Liar, liar, pants on fire!"

Charlie placed three cards on the table and said, "Three 10's."

"Bollocks!" Percy stated calmly.

Charlie flinched in his chair and angrily grabbed the large pile of cards in the middle of the table. "Damn it, Perce! When did you get so good?"

Percy passively gazed back at his older brother and replied, "Probably from dealing with lying politicians all day."

Silence stretched following Percy's statement. Everyone around the table glanced at each other with varying degrees of confusion and shock. It was the twins, however, that seemed the most affected.

"Did that just happen?" Fred asked.

"I think it did," George replied.

"Impossible."

"It's possible my dear brother. Just not probable."

"We should send out some owls."

"Alert the Minister, for sure."

"Notify the authors of _Hogwarts, A History_."

"Of course, of course. This is a historical event after all."

"It's not every day Percy — "

" — makes a joke — "

" — about work!" they finished together, their faces masks of incredulity and accusation.

Ginny was the first to laugh at her brothers antics, and leaned into Harry's side for support. She tried to hide her laughs in his shirt, but it was useless. Everyone around the table could clearly hear Ginny's muffled hearty laughter. Harry casually snaked his arm around her shoulders, offering silent support. He felt her shaking under his arm and the vibrations of her laughter caused a pleasant tingling sensation that shot straight to his stomach. Her amusement was infectious and could feel a swell of happiness rise up his chest and into his throat.

Harry glanced over Ginny's head and caught eyes with Ron. They shared an amused smile over Ginny's lack of composure. He hadn't realized until that moment how important Ron's reaction to him dating Ginny was to him. That didn't necessarily mean that his friend's views would have affected his decisions, but Ron's support certainly made things easier.

Just then, Ginny's not-so-secret laughter morphed into a rather loud snort. Ron's smile turned into a look of unholy glee and the rest of the table finally succumbed to their own amusement. The twins exploded with laughter and had to lean on each other for support, while Hermione giggled softly behind her hand. Harry buried his face in Ginny's hair and snuck a glance at Percy. He was shocked to see that Percy was casually cleaning his glasses and wore a small smile on his face.

"Alright, alright!" Angelina exclaimed as the laughter died down. "Now that we know that Percy is the master of Bollocks — George I did not mean it like that — and has shown his comedic prowess, it's time for me to go check on the terrors. It's been too quiet."

Verity threw down her remaining cards in defeat and stood. "I'll help you Ange. I need to stretch my legs anyway."

As the two witches disappeared inside the house, a calm silence settled over the table. Harry glanced down at Ginny, who was still snuggled into his side. He wasn't sure why he was so worried about tonight. These were his friends. This was his family. Granted, Ginny's laundry list of things he couldn't do or being tethered to his bed all day didn't help ease his anxiety, but sitting with people he loved, with Ginny at his side nothing could ruin his night.

He was so worried earlier, he snuck back inside the Burrow under the pretense of using the loo and scrounged through the kitchen cabinets until he found what looked like a Canary Cream, remembering Ginny's advice. He slipped his fingers in his trouser pocket and fingered the joke sweet. With a devious smile, Harry glanced around the table. The cards were shuffling themselves in preparation for the next game, and quiet conversations broke out amongst the group. The twins, no longer under the watchful eyes of their wives appeared to be plotting something. As if feeling Harry's eyes on him, George glanced up and smirked at Harry before turning back to his brother.

Remembering the dressing down Ginny gave them earlier, Harry figured he'd beat them at their own game. He silently took out the sweet and popped it into his mouth.

Something felt terribly wrong. The world began to spin and he started feeling faint.

As the ground started rushing towards him, he only had one thought.

_Bollocks!_

~*~

Slowly, Harry fought his way to consciousness. His mouth felt like it was full of cotton and he had a massive crick in his neck. His eyelids felt heavy, but he took a chance on opening them. After much effort they cracked open and he was assaulted with blinding mid-afternoon sunlight, Groaning, he rubbed his eyes. It felt like the Hogwarts Express was racing through his head. More cautiously this time, Harry opened his eyes and squinted. Not being able to see much of anything, he groped around on the bedside table until he found his glasses, slipped them on and silently took in his surroundings.

The bedroom was sparsely decorated with only the essential furniture, but it was easy to tell who it previously belonged to. Old cardboard boxes were piled high in the corner, spell-o-tape peeling off, and the letters WWW stamped on the sides. If that wasn't a clear indication that he was in the twins' old room, the lingering smell of gunpowder was.

In an attempt to escape the sunlight streaming through the window, Harry rolled over in the bed. There on the other side of the room was Ginny curled up and asleep in an old worn chair that was angled directly towards the bed. She was still wearing her clothes from the day before and somewhere during the night the ribbon that was holding her hair back fell loose and was now a wild mess around her face. She never looked more beautiful.

He spied a copy of the latest _Witch Weekly_ discarded across the arm of the chair and was precariously close to slipping off. A chuckle escaped his lips as he read the cover of the magazine, _Hero Harry Potter and his Heroine: Addicted to the Muggle Drug or New Found Love?_ How thick could they get? The pounding in his head increased at the sound of his own laughter and he groaned, letting his head fall back on the pillow.

The sound must have woken Ginny, as she was at his side a second later.

"Harry? Harry! Are you awake?" she asked frantically, her wide eyes and tangled tresses making her look like a wild woman.

Before he could respond, she sprang from her perch on the bed and fled from the room. Bewildered by her sudden disappearance, Harry started to push himself up and search for her. He had barely managed a sitting position when she burst back into the room holding a smoking goblet.

"Oh Harry, what do you think you're doing?" she chided, depositing the goblet onto the bedside table. "You need your rest!"

It was slightly frightening how closely Ginny resembled her mother at that very moment and Harry wisely hid his smile. Instead, he peered up at her face hovering above his own and asked, "Ginny what happened? Why am I in the twins' old room?"

A worried expression settled over Ginny's face as she cautiously asked, "You don't remember?"

"No! We were having dinner with your family, and I was chasing Prue pretending to be a Blast-Ended Skrewt. Then we were all around the table and Percy made a joke while we were playing Bollocks — I - _oh_ - and then I — oh Merlin this is embarrassing."

He felt his face heat as the rest of the nights memories filtered back into his mind. The moment he popped the treat into his mouth he knew it wasn't a Canary Cream. He covered his face in mortification at the implications. He remembered feeling sick and then nothing. What happened after he ate that treat? Why did Ginny look so serious? _Merlin I hope I didn't run around starkers._

Soft but firm fingers slowly pried his hands away from his face, but when they were gone Harry stubbornly refused to meet Ginny's gaze. He probably made a fool out of himself. If he had his wand on him he'd Obliviate himself.

"Harry?"

He couldn't bring himself to look at her. Ashamed of his of his own stupidity, he shifted away. He felt her cool hand on her face and despite the comfort that it gave him he pulled away from her touch. His mind flashed to all the foolish things he got himself into over the past week. Ignoring the directions to the plant Ginny gave him, being imprisoned by it all day, forgetting the privacy charms on the Top Box, getting into a fight with Ron over nothing. Now this. She must have thought he was a blithering idiot.

"Look at me," Ginny whispered.

Reluctantly, Harry brought his eyes up to meet hers. To his surprise and relief, he didn't see any laughter or anger on her face, only concern. "You're not upset?" he couldn't help but ask.

"Of course I'm upset! Do you know how worried I was when you collapsed?" she implored, gently brushing the fringe off his forehead. "Everyone was frantic. I thought Fleur was going to go into labor. How on earth you got your hands on a Slumber Snack is beyond me."

"Slumber Snack?" Harry interrupted. He tried to concentrate on the conversation and remember to be embarrassed, but it was difficult with Ginny running her fingers through his hair.

"Something Fred and George created as a follow up to the Skiving Snack Boxes. It never reached the shelves since they couldn't come up with a paste to reverse it." She explained. Harry watched as her face closed off and she scooted away from him. "Harry when you fainted no one had any idea what happened. Enervate didn't work, nothing did. Hermione was ready to floo St. Mungo's."

"Ginny —"

"You were just lying on the grass and —"

There was a catch in her voice and she didn't continue. She sat further on the bed and pulled up her knees to wrap her arms around. He hadn't seen her look so small and vulnerable since she was eleven and he rescued her from the Chamber. A solitary tear silently rolled down her check and Harry could literally feel his heart aching. Ignoring the stiffness in his body, Harry reached forward and gathered her into his arms and reclined so they were laying down.

"Shh, it's okay. I'm fine," he whispered into her hair.

"But you weren't fine!" she choked out, clutching tightly to his shirt. "I didn't know what happened and you wouldn't wake up. It wasn't until you were covered in those damn purple spots that the twins were able figure it out."

"Purple spots?" he asked as he attempted to smooth down her hair.

Ginny nodded against his chest. "I've never seen the twins so serious. They started whispering to each other and I nearly lost it. It turns out that Slumber Snacks make the person fall into a deep sleep, but there was no guarantee when you would wake up. They said that we just had to wait it out. Bill had to take my wand, I was so angry."

"Its fine now, love. _I'm fine_. I was only asleep for a few hours," he soothed, glad she appear to have calmed down.

Ginny pushed herself up slightly to look at him. "A few hours? Harry its Wednesday! You've been asleep for nearly two days!"

"Two days?" he exclaimed. "Ginny, have you left this room at all?"

"Of course not," she answered while self-consciously playing with her hair. "How could I be anywhere else?"

Harry felt his heart soar at her casual declaration. Gathering her close he asked, "But what about work?"

She didn't answer right away and Harry was beginning to wonder if she drifted off to sleep. "Don't worry about that. It's not an issue."

At the thought of work, Harry groaned. "How am I supposed to explain this to my boss? This is the third day I missed."

"Ron went down to your office yesterday and spoke to your boss. It'll be fine," she explained.

"Brilliant." Harry settled further in bed, never loosening his hold on Ginny. "Now I can spend the afternoon in bed with a gorgeous witch."

When Harry felt Ginny tense in his hold, he felt his stomach drop. An awkward silence settled over them as Harry's mind raced to figure out what was wrong.

"Why do you put up with all this?" Her voice was so low that Harry almost missed it.

His brows furrowed as he tried to decipher her question. "Put up with what?"

For her part, Ginny seemed fascinated by a loose thread on his shirt. "Everything. I somehow keep mucking things up. I put you through so much this week."

Harry hated to hear the flatness in her voice. She sounded utterly defeated. Digesting her words he asked, "What're you trying to say?"

"Well I — I mean — just sitting here thinking — then the twins joked about — that is to say I don't think anyone would blame you if you decided it wasn't worth it."

"Is that what this all was about?" he questioned. He tightened his grip on her, as if he was afraid she'd run away at any moment, which at the moment was a possibility. "You think you're - we're - not _worth_ it?"

"Don't worry about my feelings Harry. Believe me I'd understand if —"

Harry cut off her response with a chaste kiss. When he pulled back he ignored the shocked look on her face and explained, "I ate the Slumber Snack because I thought it was a Canary Cream. You were breathtaking when you were yelling at your brothers. I thought — it's really stupid when you think about it — maybe if you thought they tried to prank me I'd be able to see you go off like that again."

"Oh," she breathed. He watched as the beginning of a blush tinged her cheeks. If he didn't think he'd embarrass her further, he'd tell her that she was even more beautiful now than when angry. Her hair was still an absolute mess against the pillow and her blush was spreading magnificently.

"Come on now," he said, once more pulling her into a gentle embrace. "No more nonsense. I'm the patient here and I think we could both use some bed rest."

Ginny's lips curled into a small smile. "Not before you take your Pepper Up potion."

Harry glanced between the still steaming goblet on the bedside table and Ginny's earnest face.

"Bollocks."


End file.
